Generations
by Scribe
Summary: The mysterious arrival of Kara Zor-El gives Clark Kent a connection to Krypton he never imagined while in Gotham, Bruce Wayne find a young boy facing the same tragedy of his own life. (Sequel to Mortal Coil/Trinity)
1. Chapter 1

**Generations**

**Prologue:**

She had a name once.

Sometimes in the darkness, she almost remembered it. Like the fine mist that lingered on a morning lake, it disappeared as she soon as she took real notice, remaining forever elusive. It was odd because she had never seen any place that could be considered a lake, never seen anything so raw as the woods framing it or the blue sky bounced a murky reflection of its surface. It was more an idea in her mind, as intangible as the rest of the images that seemed to teased her in dreams, fragments that vanished in wakefulness .

She didn't so much remember the Other Life as much as she _felt_ it.

A life where she had people who loved her, to whom she felt she belonged, who did everything they could to protect her but ultimately could not. She felt their fear for her, felt saddened by their anguish for being unable to save her. Although from what menace she could not even begin to imagine. When she concentrated on trying to find the source of those feelings, perhaps even to the memory that might have engendered it, she was assailed with churning sensation of chaos. It was as if she were plunged in the eye of a maelstrom so fierce and savage, that it made her sick to her stomach.

The vortex of destruction circled her like carrion birds and yet it was she who laid the feast.

Yet despite that insanity, there was still the radiance of warm, caring voices desperately tried to soothe her, invisible fingers that flailed through the storm of emotions, trying to steer her to safer shores. They never succeeded but there were fleeting moments when she almost felt their touch, caressing her with kindness, defying her to remember that that she wasn't alone. Secretly in the darkness where all things hidden in the heart dared to speak, she longed to remember them. Despite the inevitability of the Now, she suspected they had truly cared for her.

Perhaps even mourned her. Whoever they were.

However, in the harsh light of day, such doubts vanished. The yearnings of midnight withered in the bright of the sun. It penetrated the dreams and fragments of possibly shredded memories one tangible sense of clarity, that in that Other Life she had been _weak_.

She knew this with a faith that was unshakeable. If there was such a thing as that Other Life, she knew she had lived it weak and afraid. She had been fear's creature and not the nemesis whose spine she had broken long ago. In the Now, it had been shed it like a second skin. Once she realised its power over her and with it, the last vestiges of a self that only seemed to surface like a bitter spectre in the dark was banished forever.

In the Now, she was strong. She had purpose and needed no one to protect her. She had no need of soothing comforting voices that enabled that pathetic creature who skulked through existence like a shadow terrified of the sun. With her sisters, she soared across the sky, forcing everyone to fall to their knees and look up at her adoration and terror all at the same time. In their eyes, she saw no pity, no sadness at what they believed she'd lost, only awe.

She was delight and despair, cold and heat, beauty and the beast, amalgamated with far more efficiency than any fairy tale she had ever dreamed in her forgotten childhood. She was the ugly duckling that had become the swan, the frightened little girl who had become fury itself. And when she sang her song, the world shuddered and crumbled.

She had a name once but it meant nothing to her. She didn't need it _anymore_.

Granny said so.

**CONSTRUCTION ON REEVE DAM BEGINS TODAY**

**By Byron Moore**

**Work began early this morning at Reeve Dam as Lex Luthor makes good his promise to rebuild the facility five years after its collapse during Dark Thursday in 2008. Since then, the dam has remained in ruins owing to the lack of financial resources required to rebuild it. In the wake of Dark Thursday, the immediate demand to fund relief programs for emergency assistance to those made homeless and the revitalization of local economy effected by the disaster exceeded the need to restore Reeve Dam to its former glory.**

**Senator Jack Jennings who was recently regained his former seat in the Kansas state legislature was cited on record as saying; "People needed a roof over their heads and businesses needed to recover from the damage caused by the looting and rioting that occurred on that terrible day. We just didn't have the money to rebuild a facility that has already seen its best days." **

**Fortunately, Lex Luthor has a more positive response. **

**Using the financial might of his company, Luthor approached town officials with an offer to rebuild, restoring the irrigation programs and water distribution across the area that had been disrupted by the dam's current condition. Luthor intends to rebuild the dam and also incorporate a hydro-electric system that will provide Smallville and surrounding towns with an alternate yet clean source of energy. **

**Recently returned to Smallville, Lex Luthor has made a meteoric rise back to the top of the corporate world. Luthor was pardoned by the Governor for the murder of Smallville resident Chloe Sullivan after revelations that an imposter named Milton Fine, who is still at large, masqueraded as Lionel Luthor and committed the crime. Luthor served five years of a life sentence before his conviction was vacated, thanks to the efforts of Lois Lane and Clark Kent of the Daily planet. **

**Since his return to Smallville, Luthor has rebranded LuthorCorp as LexCorp and taken steps to invigorate the local economy by reopening the former LuthorCorp fertiliser plant and putting 1500 people on the payroll. Beyond Smallville, LexCorp has continued to expand its portfolio into new industries, investing in communications technologies, defense systems and pharmaceutical research.**

**Despite his corporate ambitions, Luthor prefers to remain at Smallville in the ancestral home Lionel Luthor rebuilt from the original in Scotland, with his wife Lana and daughter Laura. **

**"I've lived in many places throughout my life but Smallville is my home," Luthor quoted to the Ledger, "It is my pleasure to be able to give something back to the community that welcomed me so warmly all those years ago. Reeve Dam is a local landmark to signify the enduring legacy of Smallville's founding father taken too soon from the world. I am thrilled that I am able to assist to ensure its future." **

**The first phase of the construction work will continue for 18 months.**

**EX-SENATOR RETURNS TO SMALLVILLE**

**After endorsing Jack Jennings as a her replacement in the Kansas State Legislature, Senator Martha Kent returns to the family farm she and husband Jonathan Kent occupied prior to his death. The Kent farm has been in the family for almost 100 years and is a fixture in Smallville's history. During her tenure as State Senator, the farm was managed by her son Clark and after the younger Kent moved to Metropolis, neighbour Ben Hubbard. **

**Senator Kent came to office after assuming the seat her husband Jonathan Kent had won. He died of a heart attack before he could take his office in the 2008 senate election. In his stead, Senator Kent has been a champion of education and human rights during her time in office. One of the most vocal supporters of the 'Meteor Generation', the Senator pushed for recognition of the meteor infected to allow them access to medical treatment and counselling to deal with their abilities. **

"**They are our children and we cannot abandon them even if what their abilities frighten us. They are just as afraid as we and we must support them to show them they are not alone," the Senator was heard to have quoted at the 2010 assembly.**

**The Senator leaves her office as one of the most respected politicians in Kansas. It is a testament to her popularity and dignitas that her endorsement alone allowed former Senator Jack Jennings to be re-elected to office. Jennings had resigned five years ago, amid scandal involving his extra marital affairs. Since then Jennings has proven that he intends to continue furthering the causes in which Senator Kent so passionately served. **

**When asked what her plans were now that she has returned to civilian life, the Senator remained coy except to say; "I'm going home, that's more than enough for now." **

**Chapter One:**

**Thanksgiving**

"I don't know why we couldn't fly," Lois Lane pouted, staring out the window of the car at what had to be the hundredth cornfield she had seen since they'd left Metropolis. As much as she loved visiting Smallville, Lois could never abide the drive down there. There were way too many cornfields, too many truck stops with undrinkable coffee and worse yet, locals who thought words like hootenanny, hoedown and shindigs were just the coolest thing ever.

Clark Kent exhaled loudly, expressing his resignation to his fate in that one sigh. Five years apart and some things about Lois never changed. Of course, he never want it any other way. By now, her complaints about their mode of transportation washed over him like water off a duck's back. Glancing at her, he saw her leaning her head against the glass, eyes gazing out the window in complete and utter boredom and couldn't help but smile, even if she was doing her level best to see if one of his powers was super _patience_.

"Because Superman flying with Lois Lane in his arms AND her luggage might raise a few brows when we landed in Smallville," he said as a matter of factly.

Lois made a face at him and harrumphed. "Fine, get all reasonable on me," she bit back in that tone which indicated that this wasn't the end of this argument. Lois Lane never surrendered, no matter stupid the reason.

"Come on Lois," Clark threw her a smile before returning his attention to the road, "how long has it been since we took a road trip?"

Lois narrowed her eyes at him, "uh never?" She said flippantly. "I got used to windblown hair and keeping my mouth clothes to keep from swallowing bugs because you'd super speed me everywhere, remember? Even before the flying. I mean at least when we flew, it was fast and we got there in a hurry. Kind of like bad sex you know?" She couldn't help but smirk.

Clark shot her a look of suspicion, "what does _that_ mean?" Was she talking about them? She wasn't, right? The sex between them was great. Well he always thought so. How was it after all this time, she managed to flummox him.

"_Nothing_, " she teased wickedly, "but see where my mind goes when I'm bored?

"Well just back it out of there," Clark said displaying classic male insecurity about that particular subject. "I mean you're kidding right?"

"I could be," Lois grinned, enjoying torturing Clark like they were the two bickering teenagers they'd been when they first met. In some sense, they'd never really grown out of that and it was what made their relationship so interesting. "But you'll never know..."

"Oh you're so explaining yourself when we get back to the farm, Lane," Clark replied, giving her a look of challenge.

Lois laughed out loud, delighting in making the great superhero hot under the collar. Sometimes, it was all she could do from ruffling his hair when she interviewed him after he'd rescued a busload of nuns, wanting to show the world that dorky farm boy she'd fallen in love with instead of just Superman. He was still there of course, these days disguised as mild mannered reporter who still kept a hula girl doll on his desk and thought any dressing other than mayonnaise was way too exotic.

The man of steel handled Kryptonite better than he handled Szechuan.

"No way," she retorted "There'll be no riding the Harley while we're at the farm, Smallville. Not with Mrs. Kent there."

Clark made a face at Lois, unsure whether it was because he was disappointed at the enforced abstinence or because talking about sex and Martha Kent in the same sentence was just... _freaky_.

"Okay you win," he conceded defeat.

"I always do," Lois beamed with triumph before leaning over to plant a kiss on his cheek, "I'll make it up to you _after_ Thanksgiving."

"You better," he winked and then added, "you know despite being reminded how much of a pain in the ass you can be during a road trip, it will actually be nice to have a Thanksgiving at the farm again."

"Amen to that," she nodded, taking no offence at his comment because truth be told, she was a pain in the ass. No contest there. Furthermore, the Thanksgivings she'd shared with the Kents at the farm were the fondest memories she had of that holiday and she was looking forward to it herself. "Its a pity the others couldn't make it."

For a moment, neither spoke because the others actually meant Chloe. Five years after the fact and neither he nor Lois ever got used to the fact that the bubbly blond woman who had been Clark's best friend and confidante was gone. Her place in his life was so large that the void it had left behind when they found her dead had driven Clark to Jor-El for five years, severing him from all the people he loved, including Lois. This Thanksgiving and every other after that, Clark suspected would always feel as incomplete without Chloe as it did without his father, Jonathan.

Clark reached over and squeezed Lois' hand gently, keeping one hand on the steering wheel. "She's with us in spirit," he said quietly.

_But its not the same_, Lois wanted to say but reined in her emotions.

Memories were treacherous little things. One minute you remembered something special and the next thing you know, the smells, the laughter and the people led you unknowingly down a path to sorrow. She squeezed Clark's hand back, knowing he missed her as much as she did, possibly even more. Until she learned about the great SECRET of Clark Kent as she liked to call it, Chloe had been the only person with whom he could be himself.

"So its just the three of us," Lois rebounded in her usual way, brushing aside cobwebs with a bulldozer and changing the subject. "Did you talk to Ollie? You know how he's been wanting to catch up."

"Yeah," Clark agreed, thinking on Oliver Queen who had spent a few Thanksgivings with them. Since his return, he'd spoken to Oliver a few times. The Green Arrow and his band of heroes were still fighting the good fight although thanks to Superman, they were able to come out into the light now and seen for what they were.

"He and Dinah are spending it with her folks," Clark replied.

"Its about time," Lois remarked, well aware of Ollie's relationship with the super-heroine called Black Canary. "Could have asked Bruce. God knows if there's anyone who could use a dose of Mrs. Kent its Bruce. I just hate the idea of him sitting alone at the Mansion with just Alfred, brooding like he does. We should ask them both over once."

"I don't know Lois," Clark said sceptically, trying to picture his mother dealing with a butler in her kitchen. Everything Clark knew about Alfred Pennyworth told him the man would not be sitting out the cooking of a Thanksgiving dinner. "You know Bruce, he isn't the Thanksgiving type. Besides, he has plans already."

"With Diana?" Lois asked hopefully. She was so happy to know that Bruce had someone in his life. In the years during Clark's absence, Lois had shared a deep friendship with Bruce Wayne. They had almost been family and after her cousin's death, Lois kept close touch with Chloe's grieving fiancé. Even after Clark came back, Bruce had continued to mourn for Chloe, keeping the armour of the Batman between him and the rest of the world.

Fortunately, the arrival of a certain Amazon Princess had changed all that.

"No," Clark shook his head. "Diana's gone home to visit her mom but Bruce said he had some charity thing to go to anyway."

"Oh that's right," Lois nodded recalling the event, "at a circus."

Lana Lang would never admit it but returning to the Luthor Mansion felt like coming home.

It was odd that she could think of such a place in that fashion, especially after living at Aunt Nell's for most of her youth and then switching briefly to the Talon and Met U's dormitory before finally settling at the Mansion. Until then, she hadn't really felt a sense of belonging but this place, with its gothic presence, its walls reeking of bleak futility and animosity, seemed to fit her somehow. Perhaps from the moment that Lex offered her a room after her break up with Clark, Lana knew there was permanence in this walls.

When she and Lex had married, he'd given her carte blanche to redecorate and Lana had taken to the task with some enthusiasm. She'd wanted to shake off the gloom and foreboding of the place and bring some light into its halls, not just for herself but because she felt Lex needed it too. He lived so much in the shadows that Lana wanted him to remember there was light in the world and it could be in his life if he wanted it. She'd banished the heavy draperies, the dark burgundy colours and hunting lodge decor that only single men seemed to find fashionable or tasteful for that matter. Of course there were things she left alone, his study for one but everything else was redesigned.

By the time Laura was born, the mansion had stopped being a residence and had started to become a home. She and Lex had decorated the baby's nursery themselves, Lana had insisted on it. The wealthy had a tendency to simply hand such duties to a decorator, Lana had felt it would have diminish the meaning of it if they didn't do it themselves. They'd trolled baby stores together, picking out dolls and strollers, enjoying the experience the way two people who were rich and young could.

Unfortunately it hadn't lasted.

It had all come crashing down when Lex was charged with Chloe's murder and though Lana had stood by him initially, it was only when she saw the damning footage of the deed, captured by the mansion's own security tapes, did she finally believe she married a killer. Taking her daughter away from the media frenzy that followed, Lana returned to the safe ground of the Talon and raised her daughter there. All the while telling herself that Lex was always what people had said he was; evil and that she was the only one who hadn't seen it.

The guilt and loneliness near destroyed her. For the first year after Lex's conviction, she was something of a pariah to the people of Smallville, the wife of the murderer.

The friends to whom she could turn to were absent.

Clark had disappeared, leaving behind Lois as broken as herself. After Clark left, Lois moved to Metropolis and Mrs. Kent or rather Senator Kent was spending most of her time in Washington. Henry Small had tried to be supportive but he too had his own family and the pressure to keep them out of the spotlight kept him at arms length. There was a brief moment where Lana considered taking Nell's offer of moving to upstate but quickly dismissed it. Lana had always felt she railroaded Nell's life because she had no one else after her parents' death and she didn't want Nell to feel the same obligation now.

Besides, Lex's conviction was news across America, where could she truly hide?

In the end, Lana remained in Smallville and raised her daughter. After a year, once the trial was done and the memory of it slipped into the background of people's consciousness, life returned to some semblance of normal. Lionel Luthor had remained distant and did not oppose it when Lana asked for the Talon in the divorce settlement. It had always been hers first anyway and the only thing she wanted from the Luthor estate.

Still Lex's circumstances continued to plague her, particularly when he insisted that he was innocent. He'd wrote letters, filled with frantic desperation to be believed and as the years continued on, they'd lost that frenzy but still remained seemingly earnest. Finally, he gave up wanting her belief, and just wished for a relationship with his daughter. After awhile it became to hard to read them because she did love him still, with an love that was very different from the all consuming, almost draining thing she had felt for Clark in her youth.

She never believed Lex even though he was telling her the truth.

When Lana learned what Clark had known; that Lex was innocent all this while, it felt like she was reliving the nightmare. Lana told Clark she'd never forgive him but the truth was; she would never forgive _herself_. Guilt ate at her, even more so when she realised that she had robbed her daughter of her father and worse yet; Fine had done something to Lex in jail.

When he emerged from prison, his memory had been altered. Everything about their relationship was intact but the truth about Clark Kent and the planet Krypton did not exist for him. He knew about Dark Thursday, about aliens and spaceship but he had no idea that any of it connected to Clark. Fine had removed just enough memory for Lex to be useful in future but not enough to be of any assistance to Clark.

Clark simply became the young man who had saved his life and was once his wife's old boy friend, nothing more.

For everyone's sake, Lana chose not to alter that view point. She had known Clark's secret for years and now that he was Superman, now he was doing so much good that despite her anger; she was proud of him.

Thus Lana was there the day Lex was released. She was there with Laura to introduce the child tentatively to her father and five years after the fact, they became a family.

So now Lana found herself in the Luthor Mansion once more, her marriage vows soon to be renewed with the family she'd always wanted.

And for the first time in five years, she had something to give thanks for at Thanksgiving.

Bruce hated charity events.

Even though he was very at home in the persona of Bruce Wayne, billionaire playboy, wastrel, philanthropist or whatever label Cat Grant wished to bestow upon him this week, he always found such events tedious. While Bruce had no reservations about donating the money, he always found the dinners, the galas and the ensuing benefits that resulted to be of no value to anyone except the social elite who use event as an opportunity to grandstand each other to grab the best photo op. Never mind that they did it while wearing gowns, tuxedos, adorned with jewels and driving cars that could feed a Third World country for a month.

It was such hypocrisy. Unfortunately it was hypocrisy he had to indulge for Bruce Wayne to carry out his work as Batman.

On this occasion, he found himself under the Big Top of Haly's Circus. Thanks to Wayne Foundation sponsorship, the circus was hosting a black tie event followed by a special Thanksgiving performance that would see the proceeds donated to the Gotham Orphanage.

As Bruce stood amongst Gotham's elite mingling with the circus performers, he almost wished he had taken Clark up on his offer to join him and Lois at the farm. Even if he was not an ardent observer of the holiday; Bruce felt an especial impatience in having to wear the mask of Bruce Wayne when he would rather be in the Cave, working.

As it was, he was expecting a call from Alfred to let him know if a ship called the Dragon's Eye was pulling to Gotham Harbour tonight. There had been engine trouble reported from the Chinese freighter prior to entering American waters that might delay its arrival date. Bruce had every intention of being there when the ship put to dock. A contact had told him that snakeheads were smuggling in illegals; some of whom were unaware that their new life in America would involve the sex trade.

He was in the middle of telling Bitsie Huffington that Diana had returned to Themiscyra to visit her mother, thus explaining her absence at Bruce's arm this evening when his cell phone vibrated in his jacket pocket. Excusing himself, he stepped behind the flap leading to backstage and noted that it was no less busy on this side of the curtain. Circus hands and performers were getting ready for their for their debut. So busy were they in their preparations, they paid him little notice of him when he took refuge next to a stack of hay bales and answered his call.

As expected it was Alfred but Bruce was disappointed to hear that the Dragon's Eye would not be putting into shore until _tomorrow_ night. Alfred had said with more than a passing hint of smugness that Batman was off the hook for the evening.

"You're not supposed to be here you know?" An undoubtedly juvenile voice pointed out from behind the hay bale he was resting against.

"Sorry," Bruce said regarding the young boy who had hidden away himself behind the hay bale, quite impressively, Bruce thought, with comic books. "Just needed to make a call."

The boy stood up and without any warning, jumped into the air in a half somersault to land gracefully next to him, hunched over like a modern day version of Puck.

He could not have been more than eight, Bruce thought and recognised immediately, the youngest member of the Flying Grayson's troop. The child was dressed in coloured tights unlike his older counterparts,

"That's not much of an excuse," he retorted, "There's like a sign there saying employees only. You're not supposed to see the acts before the curtain comes up, its kind of bad manners, or at least that's what my dad says."

Then in a lower voice, with a smirk stealing across his face, he added, "but I won't tell."

"Well I appreciate that," Bruce chuckled, admiring the boy's landing. He really had excellent form, not to mention a natural ability that was honed with discipline. Bruce had seen Olympic level athletes dream of such talent. "You're Dick right?"

There was a pole next to the hay bale and the boy grabbed it, shimming up and curling his legs around the thing as he hung off it like a monkey. "Yep, I'm Dick Grayson," he grinned before his brow furrowed. The man look familiar but Dick wasn't sure how. "How'd you guess?"

"I'm a bit of detective," Bruce replied with a straight face. "I've heard that the star of the Flying Graysons is their young son and the way you moved just now, I supposed that must be you." Bruce added, unable to deny being a little charmed by the boy's playful manner.

"I'm famous?" Dick's smile almost split his face and just to show off, he slid down the pole and landed on the hay bale before treating his new friend to a double somersault in mid air before landing in front of Bruce again. Upon landing though, his face scrunched up as he tugged at the crotch of his tights and blushed a little at being noticed doing it. "Sorry, it rides up sometimes."

"I understand," Bruce replied, more sensitive to the problem then the boy could possibly imagine.

"Are you famous too?" The boy asked, head cocked to the side as he stared at Bruce.

Bruce fought hard to suppressed the smirk that wanted to come as he regarded young Dick Grayson. The boy couldn't sit still and reminded Bruce of an old nursery rhyme 'Robin Red Breast'. He moved constantly, like a bird on a branch. "I'm Bruce Wayne," he extended a hand. "Its nice to meet you Dick...or is it Richard?"

The kid's eyes became saucers and his mouth fell agape. When he spoke, it escaped him in one long, excited sentence. "You're Bruce Wayne, the guy whose helping us with our show and owns that big shiny building with the pointy tower in own? THAT Bruce Wayne, the one who's Wonder Woman's boyfriend!"

_Okay that,_ Bruce could have done without but he couldn't help laughing at the boy's reaction. Those who knew him, would have realised that this wasn't one of his patented laugh put on for show. This one was real and something he didn't often share.

"I'm afraid that's me."

"That's so awesome!" The boy exclaimed with awe and glanced about to see if he could show off Bruce Wayne to anyone he knew, convinced no one would believe him when he told them later.

"Well I'm equally honoured to meet the star of the flying Graysons. I'm looking forward to seeing your performance tonight," Bruce remarked. "I'm a fan."

"That is so cool...I mean I never had a fan...," Dick exclaimed and it was the truth. His folks were pretty careful about keeping him away from the audience when he wasn't being supervised. And his fan was famous who got to hang out with Wonder Woman who also got to hang out with SUPERMAN. The thought almost discombobulated Dick's rational thought.

"Well you have a show to do," Bruce said giving the boy a warm smile, "and I have to get out there." He glanced at the curtain and found it funny that he rather preferred hanging around this child. "Good luck Dick."

"I'll do a quad for you Mr. Wayne!" the boy exclaimed as he saw Bruce retreat.

Bruce was still smiling when he turned away, hearing Dick behind him holler "MOM! GUESSS WHO I JUST MET!"

It was surprising how quickly things got back to normal.

Lex Luthor had thought that once he emerged from prison, it would take time for him to get back into the swing of things. After all, he'd been five years away from the corporate world and in the mean time, his company had been under the charge of an alien imposter who had murdered his father and blamed him for the crime of killing Chloe Sullivan. Under those circumstances, Lex figured he was owed some time to readjust. However, when he breathed the air of a free man and sighted for the first time, his wife and daughter, that hesitation disappeared.

Once again, he wanted it _all_.

He wanted it all for himself and he wanted it all for his family. Driven by demons that predated his prison time, Lex took charge quickly and though he allocated the appropriate amount of time to his business, he was careful not to overlook his family. During his time in prison, he'd wanted nothing more than to be back with Lana and his daughter and now that it was a reality, Lex was not going to squander the opportunity. Lana was willing to rebuild their lives together and growing up with Lionel Luthor as a father told Lex what mistakes to avoid.

Thus when he was called to Reeve Dam on Thanksgiving, Lex had not been impressed.

This was his first Thanksgiving with his wife and daughter and not even work ought to intrude upon that. However, there was something about this place that nagged at him, something he knew had to do with Milton Fine but what that was he could not say. It was like the proverbial splinter in the mind, defying him to answer a riddle he had forgotten.

Milton Fine or rather the persona he had adopted whilst on Earth was an alien. Of this Lex had no doubt. He knew that Fine had emerged from a spaceship that had been found by LuthorCorp and had something to do with Dark Thursday. Fine had seized his company by killing his father and framing him for murder. Lex was convinced it was because of Reeve Dam.

Dr. Groll was waiting for him in the temporary parking lot that had been set up for vehicles during the restoration of the site. Dr. Edward Groll had been placed charge of clearing the scientific equipment that had been apart of the destroyed Section 33.1 facility in the subterranean level that had been flooded and destroyed due to seismic activity. While earthworks began on the other end of the structure, LexCorp technicians were hastily removing much of the equipment that had been buried under the rubble once the water had been pumped out of the submerged facility.

"What the hell is so important that I've got to come here personally, Doctor?" Lex demanded when he stepped out of his car.

"I'm sorry Mr. Luthor," Dr. Groll who had been on LuthorCorp's payroll during Lex's incarceration and had been able to give him an account of what Fine had been done as Lionel Luthor, apologised quickly but felt justified by the urgency of the situation. "We found something and you did say you wanted to be informed immediately."

"Just tell me what it is," Lex said impatiently because he had said that very thing. In fact, he'd been explicit about it.

The doctor led him to entrance in the far side of the complex that led into the subterranean levels below the dam. LexCorp employees were moving in and out of the doorway, carrying pieces of damaged equipment, attempting to salvage what had been left behind in order to retrieve any useful data if possible. Lex knew that Fine had concentrated his efforts on this facility but couldn't imagine why since the place had more less been destroyed after the quake.

The damage was apparent as soon as they passed through the doorway. Large fissures had split the concrete, running down the length of the corridor they were walking. There was still the sheen of water left behind on all surface from the flood and some of the adjoining doorways to other rooms and corridors had collapsed entirely. Emergency lighting was running along the broken ceiling, with algae and moss creeping through the cracks. The smell was dank and musty, making Lex wish for one of those respirator masks he saw some of the technicians wearing.

This did not seem to bother Dr. Groll however. It appeared his time supervising this excavation had made him immune to the place.

"As you know, Mr. Fine when he was posing as your father, was very interested in this facility. I initially thought he was planning on carrying out the work previously conducted here."

By that Lex knew he meant the experimentation in Section 33.1 but he could not imagine what would interest Fine about the genetic manipulation of meteor infected subjects. Fine certainly hadn't attempted to further the work by any record that he or Dr. Groll had been able to detect.

"However, we've gone through the whole facility and it appears his only orders were about keep one section of the tunnel system restricted. I've had our people excavating all the debris leading up to that area, to determine what was being concealed," Groll continued to explain.

The two men moved deeper and deeper into the facility leaving behind the workers excavating its other sections. The emergency lighting allowed Lex to see the extent of the damage. It was definitely more pronounced. Whole sections of wall had crumbled and it appeared only debris piles kept the wing from being impassable.

"Are we safe down here?" Lex asked, not wanting to buried alive after being caged for five years, the cruelty of it would be too much for him to bear.

"I wouldn't recommend starting a jackhammer down here but its stable enough for us to take a look at. When we need to do a more extensive extraction, I recommend we do it from the other side of the external walls." Groll answered.

"Extensive extraction?" Lex threw a sidelong glance at the man.

"You'll understand when you see it, Mr. Luthor." The doctor retorted as if that would explain everything.

"Doctor I don't want to have to be away from my family any longer than I have to be," he retorted, trying to keep the edge out of his voice. In truth, the surroundings of concrete, the stench of foul water and dim lighting was too reminiscent of the cell he had occupied for five years. So much so that it was creating beads of sweat running down his forehead.

"We're almost there," Dr. Groll said gesturing to the guard standing in front of a plastic sheet that separated one section of the hallway from the rest of it, like one of those found on a medical quarantine tents. "This is one Carter Bowfry's men," Groll commented.

Bowfry had been one of Lex's chief advisors before and he was glad that Fine hadn't dismissed the man so that Bowfry could take his talents elsewhere. Lex made a mental note to recall the man from which ever LuthorCorp (now LexCorp) task he was currently assigned. Expertise like that couldn't be squandered on some menial duty.

The guard stood aside as soon as Lex and approached, making no effort to stop them. Dressed in a dark blue, security uniform, he merely nodded his greeting at the two men as they stepped through the plastic. Once past, they didn't have far to go far to find what they were looking for

What was on the other side of the curtain was not some undiscovered section of the dam that no one had noticed til now. Far from it actually. It was just the end of the tunnel. However, what made it interesting was what had broken through the wall from outside the structure. It was sizeable enough so that it jutted out almost two meters from the wall so tightly against the broken concrete that water trickled through from crack but not enough to flood it.

Lex walked right up to the object that had punched through the concrete. His jaw slightly agape as he recognised what he was seeing. Five years had done nothing to diminish his memory of the black ship he and Lana had seen after the second meteor shower in Smallville. The angular lines, the strange metal, it all came back to him like the dank stench of the prison walls when he had come into this place. He saw odd symbols running along the edge of what he knew to be its wing . He moved to touch it when Groll stopped him by pulling his hand away.

"Don't touch it Mr. Luthor," Groll warned, "we've detected unusual radiation readings emanating from it. We can't say what it might do if we made contact. I believe this what Fine was after, this was the came down in the second meteor shower. Fine must have hidden it in the lake and during seismic instability that damaged the dam, the ship must shifted enough to slam into this wall."

"I have no doubt that's an explanation the ship came to be here," Lex stated, staring at Groll with utter confidence. "However, I ate, drank, slept with picture of the Black Ship for months. These symbols," he gestured to the cryptographs, "I may not understand what they are but I certainly know these aren't the same ones as before. Wherever this came from, it did not come down in the second meteor shower. This _isn't_ Fine's ship."

And if it wasn't Fine's whose was it?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

**Defining Moments**

After everything she had done in her life in recent years, it was odd how the things she looked forward to most always place in _this_ house. As Martha Kent stood in her kitchen, preparing the first Thanksgiving meal she had cooked in five years, she couldn't ignore the sorrow inside her at spending another holiday without Jonathan. Years had gone since his death and Martha had yet to figure out how to live without him.

His passing heralded the beginning of a lonely and tragic time for Martha and her loved ones. After Jonathan's death, they were inflicted with Chloe's murder and Clark's subsequent departure as guilt drove him to train with Jor-El at the fortress. She'd even lost her friendship with Lionel Luthor although why that had happened did not become clear until Clark revealed what the Construct had done. Only when she had learned that the Brain Interactive construct or rather Brainiac had secrecy murdered Lionel, did she understand the reason for his inexplicable indifference.

After that, Thanksgiving was celebrated in Washington, sometimes with Lois, sometimes not and when Lois was absent, the occasion was as empty as this house had been for so long.

This year was going to be different.

While Jonathan was still gone and not stomping about the house, asking whether or not she needed help with Thanksgiving dinner when in truth, he was itching to sit down to watch football with Clark, Martha was still content. Clark and Lois were on their way home, Shelby was nestled comfortably in front of the fireplace and for the first time in too long, Martha felt her world returning to the warm simplicity of her earlier life on the farm.

She prepared all of Clark's favourites because her son was terribly traditional when it came to the Thanksgiving meal. Turkey, pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes, the whole nine yards and you know, Martha loved being able to do it for him. Like the rest of the world, she watched Superman flying across the globe, saving people in a way she was certain Jonathan had always imagined he would someday and couldn't help feeling proud knowing she had some part in all that. Yet cooking for him like this reminded them both that at the end of the day, Superman was still the little boy who had wandered into her embrace and gave her and Jonathan's life so much meaning.

Martha was in the middle of mixing up the stuffing when she saw Shelby's head suddenly lift up from the rug he had been lying against. His floppy ears prickled with interest and familiarity before he leapt to his feet and rushed to the front door, escaping through the doggy door they had installed years ago. Guessing the reason, Martha followed him far enough to catch sight of dark sedan coming down the driveway through the window.

With a happy smile, Martha quickly retreated to the kitchen to wash her hands, wiping them with a dish towel before she went outside to greet Clark and Lois.

"Hey Boy!" Clark greeted exuberantly as he dropped down to his haunches to pat Shelby and scratch the dog behind the ears the way Clark knew he liked. Despite the happy wagging of its tail and its boisterous response to Clark's return, Shelby was starting to show his age, strands of grey were beginning to appear in his auburn fur.

"How you doing?" Clark laughed as the dog covered his face in wet slobbers.

"Ewwww," Lois made a face at the display. "You better wash those lips before you kiss me Smallville," she warned even though she loved Shelby as much as Clark did, despite her allergies.

"Clark," Martha greeted as she stepped out of the house, pausing a few steps away from the couple.

When he saw his mother, Clark straightened up and his expression softened. The only other person in the world Clark could not imagine his world without; he crossed over two her in two easy strides and embraced her. It was an embrace filled with the best of his childhood as well. Holding her, he drew comfort in the familiar scent of her perfume intermingling with warm kitchen aromas that was very distinctively Martha.

"Hi Mom," he greeted, feeling not like the adult, the rookie reporter or even Superman. In her sight, he would always be her little boy and they both knew it.

"It's so good to have you home," she said holding him a little longer than she should, the emotion in her voice palpable. This moment needed Jonathan and it stung that it could never be.

Lois didn't intrude in mother and son having their moment together. She glanced up from where she was patting Shelby and a small smile stole across her face, part affection and part envy. She was happy that they had come back to the farm if only for this reunion.

When they finally parted, Lois gave Shelby a final scratch of his ear before she stood up and stepped forward to make her own greetings.

"Lois," Martha greeted with a warm smile and bundled the young woman with the same embrace though with less emotional heartache. "I'm so glad you're here too."

"You know me, Mrs. Kent," Lois laughed, never able to deal with compliment without diffusing it with self-depreciating humour. "Can't get rid of me that easily?"

Martha joined her laughter, recognising the tactic by now. She'd been pleased when Clark had found Lois as more than just an annoyance in his life. She had always suspected that the former army brat had a vein of steel running through her that matched even a Kryptonian's invulnerability. Without ever being able to explain it, Martha had always known that Lois would handle the SECRET better than anyone believed her capable.

Her sassy no holds barred, abrasive personality was the perfect foil for Clark's brooding, somewhat introverted personality. In Lois' company, Martha saw Clark capable of being himself without the revelation of his alien origins. She'd seen Lois fight for him without any consideration as to what she was facing, knowing only that he needed her and Martha could not have hoped for better than that for her son.

"Come on you two," she gestured both of them to come into the house, deciding that there would be plenty of time to catch up over the holiday. "I've been cooking all day."

"Aw Mrs. Kent," Lois said to her. "You should have waited for me, I would have helped."

"Oh God no..." Clark looked at her dismayed. As much as he loved Lois, cooking was not her in her wheel house, no matter how much time had passed.

"Hey!" Lois protested, punching him on the arm in retaliation, even if it had utterly no effect on him.

"Clark be nice," Martha chided though she knew he was teasing Lois. All this time and they still behaved like the two teenagers they used to be. "Of course, you can _help_ Lois."

"There," Lois made a face at him and bounced up the walkway with one of her bags, leaving Clark with his mother.

Clark watched her go, chest swelling with warmth. God he loved her, Lois never let him have an inch and it was just how he liked it. Not to mention, it was always fun being around her. Even when they fought, it felt like foreplay.

"It's good to have you here," Martha repeated a moment later, linking an arm round his.

"This is home," he stated without hesitation. And it was true. Even though his life was with Lois and Metropolis at the Planet, this farm was his home. Whatever else might change, this place would always be where he'd come to. This place and Martha.

Martha felt a wave of emotion at hearing that. "Yes, it is," she agreed, sweeping her gaze at the house with its yellow paint and rose bushes framing the walkway to the front porch. Jonathan had painted it that colour for her before they were married. It was his way of showing her this was now her home too.

"Mom, are you alright being here alone?" Clark had to ask. "I mean after Washington, this has to be pretty quiet. I don't know if I like the idea of you being here by yourself."

"Honey I'll be fine," she assured him, understanding and touched by his concern at the same time. "I mean there's plenty to keep me busy around here and Ben Hubbard is still around helping with the heavy lifting. Besides, we've leased most of the parcels to other farms these last few years anyway. The farm is still doing what it's meant to."

"I know," Clark nodded but still felt uncertain about his mother spending so much time alone and there was apart of him that felt like a Kent ought to be working this land. No, he couldn't go there, he had chosen a different path and he knew Jonathan would have been the first to tell him so. Returning his thoughts to his mother, Clark sighed, "I just don't want you to be alone. What about Gabe Sullivan? I thought you and he might be you know... _close_."

As much as he hated to think of his mother dating, it had been _five years._ She had the right to move on.

"We're just friends Clark," Martha gave him a look; somewhat surprised he'd even thought that much on the subject. It was true that was the extent of their relationship but she knew Gabe would have liked it to be more. However, the unfortunate truth was; Jonathan was a tough act to follow and Gabe knew it. "Sweetheart I'm okay. After Washington, I could use the quiet life."

Clark nodded, letting the matter lie for now but he still wasn't happy about it.

The first Thanksgiving at the Luthor Mansion felt like the first real Thanksgiving Lex Luthor had ever had.

It had been bad enough when Julian died but when his mother passed, what warmth had been in their family drained out of the holiday entirely. He and his father would stare at each other across the elongated table set with a meal fit for a king. Yet it would be a cold, obligatory affair for them both, like it was something that they had to do to keep up the facade they were still a family.

And yet despite it all the pain and manipulation between them, Lex really wished Lionel was here now. A part of him even thought the man would have been happy for him.

The Luthor Mansion was a different place now than it had been when Lex was first been exiled here. He'd hated the place with its oppressive walls and dark decor designed to give it a false sense of history that it did not really have. Lionel had the mansion shipped from Scotland, claiming that it was the Luthor ancestral home. Considering that Lionel had grown up in Suicide Slum in Metropolis, Lex wondered whose ancestral home it really was.

In any case, the mansion had rid itself of the gloomy atmosphere thanks to Lana. She'd gutted the place after they were married. He had given her leave to make this her home and she had; until Lex's prison sentence. Lex tried not to think of that dark period, retaining only the strength it given his character because his life was back on track, where it should have been before that nightmare. Lex had sworn he wasn't going to be mired by the past he could not change. His life was going to be about the future.

Sitting in his study, he saw a small LEGO construct of a space ship resting at the corner of his desk and picked it up, studying it with amusement before he put it down and continued his conversation with Dr. Groll about a _real_ one.

"We've got the extraction crew in place now Mr Luthor," Dr. Groll reported through the webcam image on Lex's computer screen. "The divers will use low yield charges on the outer wall to dislodge it. Fortunately, the water is deep enough for us to get the dredging gear to secure it when it becomes loose."

"Good," Lex nodded. "Have it moved to a secure facility when it's done. I'll be incommunicado for the evening."

"Understood Mr Luthor," Groll answered, aware that his employer had a young family to take care of now. "Happy Thanksgiving Sir."

"Likewise, Doctor." Lex returned before switching off the screen in time to hear soft footsteps running down the hallway of polished wood towards his study.

"Daddy, daddy, daddy!" The little girl burst into the room, dark hair bouncing all over her shoulder, wearing jeans, sneakers and an 'S' t-shirt that just made Lex frown. However, his dislike of that symbol could not stand up to the ball of energy who was bouncing towards him like a stray bolt of lightning.

Since Laura had found that she had what she called _'a real live daddy_' like other children, she had demanded that Lex do the things that all daddies did, lifting her over his shoulders so she could fly like Warrior Angel, teach her how to ride her a bike and even build sandcastles with her. It was all very silly and precious but Lex loved it. He loved reading Warrior Angel comic books to her and watching her play dollies on the floor of his study while he worked.

This was all that Lex had ever wanted and knowing that Laura had come to him from Lana, made it all the more sweeter.

"Where's the fire?" He asked as she climbed onto his lap in two easy steps once she reached the desk.

"The parade daddy," Laura reminded him. "Mommy says she has to help with dinner so you have to watch the parade with me."

"The parade huh?" He could help but smile. How was it children could make such small requests seem like it was the greatest thing in the world? He didn't know but he wasn't about to disappoint her. Lex knew he was going to spoil her rotten all her life but he couldn't help it. It was one vice he would happily indulge. "We can do that," he said carrying her. "Do we have popcorn to go with it?"

"Oh no, you don't," Lana Lang Luthor declared reproachfully as she walked into study, staring at Lex knowingly because whatever Laura wanted, he'd cave to. "Dinner's going to be ready in an hour and you don't want to fill out on junk food."

"Sorry Starbuck," Lex glanced at her apologetically before regarding Lana with as much affection. "Do you need any help?" He asked her aware that she was doing it herself. Lana had insisted the staff be given the day off for the holiday, certain they could make do without them for 24 hours. That included the cook.

"Not at all," Lana answered, warmed by the sight of her daughter's around her father's neck, in a scene that Lana had once dreamed off. Her own childhood had been tragic and this day was already unfolding to be what she'd always wanted from her life. "Just keep the Munchkin entertained while I'm cooking."

"You know we could have kept the staff on for the night," he reminded gently.

"No we couldn't," Lana retorted, giving him a look that indicated that the subject was closed. "It's Thanksgiving and they should be with their families, the same way we are. Besides, I've been cooking Thanksgiving dinner for me and Laura for the last five years and it will be no different except this time, I've got a bigger kitchen to work with and you're here." She winked at him affectionately.

Still carrying Laura in his arms, Lex met Lana in the middle of the room and gave her a tender kiss on the lips. "You don't know what it means to me to be here too," he said quietly, his emotions naked across his face.

"I do Lex," Lana's eyes misted over with similar feeling. "It's the same for the both of us."

"Daddy," Laura whined, tugging at his shirt, impatient by the whole display even though it was nice to see Mommy happy, "the parade's starting..." she reminded.

She didn't just tug at his shirt, she tugged at his heartstrings and Lex had no power over those pleading brown eyes. She shared that trait with her mother.

"Duty calls," Lex surrendered with a happy shrug, reminding himself that this was the reward for five years of wrongful incarceration, this life that was everything that he'd ever wanted.

"Wait til you have to sit through the Little Mermaid _ten_ times," Lana smirked, leaving Laura to her father as she retreated to the kitchen once more.

"Thanks," Lex laughed and turned his attention to his daughter. "Come on Starbuck, let's go watch that parade."

As Doctor Groll stood on the crane barge that had initially been brought to the project to remove larger pieces of debris from the ruined dam, he felt the sting of the icy November chill against his face. It was dark and while most people were at home enjoying Thanksgiving dinner, he had no such obligations. The pursuit of science had come at a cost that Groll had not regretted paying, especially during moments like this.

Beneath the dark water of Smallville dam, the find of the century awaited discovery. Luthor wanted the ship ferried away as soon as it surfaced, taken out of Smallville for some nondescript warehouse where they could study it properly. Groll had no problem with that. Like his employer, he selfishly wanted this discovery all to himself and had no desire to share the irrevocable proof of extra-terrestrial life with the world just yet. Not until they had cracked its shell open and wrung out every last drop of information first.

"We're ready Dr. Groll," Sorenson, the Operations manager of LexCorp's special projects team announced as he approached him. Like Groll, Sorenson was dressed in a heavy parka, keeping the cold at bay as much as possible. Of course, this close to the water, in Kansas, there wasn't really much that could keep the cold away entirely.

"Do it," Groll ordered trying to keep the anticipation out of his voice. He wanted to see it, wanted to touch the alien metal under his hands.

Lifting his cell to his lips, Sorenson gave the crane operator the signal. Beneath the dark waters, explosive charges had freed the ship already. After that, the divers had secured the vessel as much as possible with moorings and high tensile cables that were usually used to lift ship containers. The area in which the ship had penetrated the outer wall of the dam was sealed as tightly as possible to avoid further damage to the facility. The instant it had been free of the wall, cubic tonnes of water had come bursting through the cracked concrete and flooded the entire section.

What remained of the wall had crumbled into the river bed and become just another under water debris field. Nevertheless, Groll had taken all the necessary precautions. The dam had been evacuated of all workmen except those needed for the extraction and the rest of the facility protected much as possible. The staff had been told that Mr Luthor wished them to spend Thanksgiving with their families at full pay. Not that Luthor had given any such instruction but Groll was confident that to avoid questions the man would sanction it.

Groll watched as the divers broke surface from the depths and made their way to the side of the barge, wisely getting clear as the crane began to do its work. At Sorenson's signal, the thick, metal cables from the crane jib began to tighten, groaning with exertion as they started dragging the unseen ship to the surface. He watched as the cable shuddered and tightened, winding around the pulley mechanism, heaving with every length retracted.

Minutes that felt like hours ticked by, excruciating in their slowness. Groll didn't realise he had been holding his breath until the white froth of the breaking surface tension disrupted the reflection on the dark water. The dark red canopy as he called it, appeared first. Gleaming with moisture, it looked almost black as more of it was exposed to the chilly night air.

The water came off it now in, looking like an impossible fountain suspended in mid air. It rolled off the dark hull and dribbled back into the dam, following the angular configuration of the ship. It looked almost exactly like Milton Fine's ship, except this craft was dark red. Groll suspected that if the power was restored, it look like a piece of burning ember from a fireplace.

It was... _magnificent_.

The boom of the crane began to pivot, bringing the ship towards the barge, away from the water. Droplets of water sprinkled over the deck as the arm swung and the ship rocked somewhat precariously against its moorings.

"Be careful!" Groll shouted as he watched it nearing the deck of the barge where the ship would rest. Now that they were so close, he was at his most anxious.

Sorenson seemed to ignore him, continuing to issues orders verbally and threw hand signals to his crew who knew their jobs and their equipment far more intimately than they knew this scientist. The ship was brought safely past the edge of the barge, hovering for a moment above the deck where it was intended to rest before a final order from Sorenson lowered the crane's arm. It touched the metal deck with a loud thud that seemed to reverberate throughout the vessel and in the bones of those on board.

Groll wasted no time moving in, not even waiting for the cables to be detached. He moved immediately to the ship, studying the sleek lines of the thing, constructed from metal he knew would not exist on their current version of the periodic table. Distantly, he called Luthor's order to contact him as soon as the ship was on board but that request seemed far away now, almost inconsequential. Luthor had chosen to be with his family, he had given up his right to be _first_.

Above the ship, the mechanism holding the cables in place released and they went slack around the ship, like the arms of a mother who knew her child was inherently lost. Groll walked along its edges, following the line of symbols that adorned the wings. The men on the boat also looked on in awe but fear kept them a reasonable distance away. Groll held no such limitations, he was a scientist and there was no such thing as the unknown; just that which had yet to be discovered.

"Dr. Groll," Sorenson warned as he saw the doctor approach it much closer than he liked. He knew the Luthors from years of employment and the son would no less be happier about being usurped than the father.

Groll ignored him, pausing at the hull where the wing met the nose, to study the symbols circling what appeared to be some kind of octagonal panel. Mesmerized by the possibility that this this could be a door, he reached for it.

The reaction upon contact was immediate.

Almost as if the ship were alive and outraged by the interference, it powered up, the brilliant light of its engines turning its reddish hull into a vibrant crimson colour. The symbols lit up, similarly scandalized. The ship shot up a meter above the deck and before coming about sharply. It knocked Groll off his feet, swatting him off the barge like an impudent child before its engines fired fully, incinerating everyone on the deck with a blast of heat. They barely had time to register what was happening before they were dead.

Engines fully functional, the ship escaped into the night, like a shooting star disappearing into the mountains.

It was just like old times, Clark thought as he sat at the head of the table with Lois and Martha, getting ready to carve the turkey. Of course, it wasn't exactly like the past, not with Jonathan's absence and moments like this were when Clark felt his loss most profoundly. Still this was not an occasion to mourn, this was a day of thanks and as Clark looked at Lois and his mother, he knew that life was mostly what he'd always wanted it to be.

Before the end of this night, he might even have something else to be grateful for. He gave Lois an enigmatic look before catching Martha's gaze. She knew what he was about as he'd discussed the matter with her earlier when Lois was freshening up. Martha had been thrilled to say the least. Clark hoped Lois would feel the same.

"Come on Smallville," Lois teased, "carve this thing already. I'm starving."

"Alright, alright," Clark gave her a look as he picked up the carving knife, " it's not like you didn't fill up on doughnuts before we got here." He chided.

"That's not _real_ food," she pointed out haughtily, "that's travel food and it doesn't count."

Clark opened his mouth to retort but Martha interceded as always, separating them like warring children instead of two people deeply in love. "Before it gets cold sweetheart."

"You two are ganging up on me," he complained good-naturedly and lowered the blade to the crisp skin when suddenly, something cut through his ears like an ice pick to the brain.

The scream in his mind, was so piercing, so desperate that Clark staggered back from the table, his face contorting into a grimace of pain as he reached for his ears, trying to block out the sound only he could hear. He hadn't heard the chair behind him hitting the floor as he knocked it onto its back or the fact that both Martha and Lois were on their feet, demanding what was wrong.

"Smallville! What is it"? Lois demanded cold fear in her eyes as she stepped towards him.

It was amazing how quickly some things returned to Martha after raising a Kryptonian for twenty years. "Clark," she caught him by the arm, "what's happening to you?" She could tell by the way he was clutching his ears that he was hearing something, something that neither she or Lois was privy to.

"It's screaming!" Clark shouted over the sound, hands still covering his ears to block out the noise. "It's screaming for help!"

Confused, Lois asked the obvious, "whose screaming?"

Clark met her eyes and replied, "The ship. The _ship_ is screaming for help."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:  
Broken**

To be honest, Bruce hadn't expected very much when the lights had dimmed under the Big Top.

In the past few years, he'd seen too much of the strange and incredible to believe himself capable of being awed by animal tricks, fancy illusions and incredible feats. He'd seen a man bounce bullets of his chest and a woman who had fought a god. After that, a circus seemed rather trivial in comparison. Nevertheless when the time came, Bruce played the part of the gracious benefactor, taking his front row seat amongst the elite of Gotham, that included American aristocracy, politicians and other luminaries that added as much to the spectacle as the players about to perform.

There were other reasons for his ambivalence that had little to do with the quality of the performance and everything to do with his own damaged psyche. He hadn't been to a circus since he was a little boy. His parents had taken him on his fifth birthday. It was a circus not unlike Haly's and Bruce remembered sitting on his father's shoulders as they navigated the crowds of people moving through the fairground. The world had seemed so vast then, with so many people that he had been a little frightened but his father had that way about him, that calm, reassuring voice that everything would be alright.

And for that day at least Thomas Wayne was right.

Once the lights had dimmed and the calliope music started to play, Bruce had forgotten all about his fear and become lost in the wonder of clowns, dancing bears and acrobats.

However as the light dimmed to herald the beginning of this performance, Bruce found himself slowly and surely being won over by the charm of the event. Unlike most of its contemporaries, Haly's Circus had opted to not to update its look for modern audiences. No David Copperfield lightshow or CrissAngel sideshow here. The decor was traditional in bright, cheery colors of red and cold with old style playbill posters announcing the acts with girls, smiling happily at the audience.

With its strobe lights zigzagging across the tent and crushed velvet curtains hiding the next act before they entered the center ring, the atmosphere and the performances charmed younger audiences while reminding older ones of better days. There were all the old favorites, clowns, trained animals, sword swallowers, musicians, jugglers, unicyclists and even hoopers. The audience was gasped and cheered, overwhelming the carnival music with thunderous applause.

Of course, by the time these had concluded; the audience was eager for what came next and with that the high wire acts were unveiled. Tight rope walkers, the various acrobats and trapeze acts all whetted the crowd's appetite for Haly's Circus star attraction, which was of course the Flying Graysons, the family of flying trapeze acrobats who were capable of performing the much lauded quadruple summersault.

Despite his earlier indifference to attending this performance, Bruce had to confess that by the time the Graysons were announced, he was rather looking forward to seeing the act. Particularly after meeting the youngest member of the troop whom he'd met backstage. The exchange with Dick Grayson still brought a smile to his face and made Bruce recall the time when he had considered the possibility of having a family.

He and Chloe had talked about it after he'd proposed. Bruce remembered being surprised by her statement that she'd love a bunch of kids. He never considered that she would want children. She always seemed more focused on her career as a journalist and Bruce's ideas for righting the wrongs in Gotham had yet reached its full shape. However, Chloe had wanted a family and when he was hers; Bruce had wanted one with her.

He'd liked to think a child with Chloe would have been happy like young Dick Grayson.

"Haly's Circus is proud to present, the stars of the high-wire, the Flying Graysons!"

The lights dimmed even further and the spotlight darted to the top of the trapeze board where the family was perched, mother, father, two other trapeze acrobats that were part of the troop but didn't appear to be family and finally Dick. The applause grew deafening as the little boy waved to the crowd, beaming in pride before looking to his mother and father, happy not just to be performing but for performing with them.

The act began with the troop making a few routine stunts. John Grayson was the catcher, mounting the fly bar and catching the rest of the troops as they leapt off the board and performed their stunts. It appeared that it was the Grayson family unit that was the real stars of the troop. Both John and Mary were capable of executing the quadruple summersault and had thought the technique to their son. It showed in his performance. Dick held his own with against his older team mates, soaring through the air like a bird into the outstretched hands of his father.

Robin Redbreast, Bruce was reminded once again.

For the first half of the act, the netting below ensured that no one was seriously injured by a fall, not that there was any danger of that happening with the expertise on display. Each one of the Flying Graysons performed their stunts with Olympic level precision and even Bruce was impressed by their skills. Even when Dick leapt off the platform and performed his quadruple somersault, the net remained.

Clearly, no matter how talented their son was; Dick's parents was determined that he remained safe. Bruce respected them for that.

Finally the act moved towards it climax and the net was removed with much fanfare from the ringmaster. The audience was asked to refrain from flash photography or making loud noises to ensure the performers were not distracted during the dangerous stunt. Bruce noted that Dick was sidelined as John and Mary Grayson stepped forward. Clearly they weren't risking their young son for this particular stunt even though Bruce thought the boy was quite capable of executing it perfectly.

John Grayson leapt off board with flawless execution again, taking up position on the second fly bar as the catcher, swinging back and forth to maintain the perfect rhythm he needed for when his wife joined him. Suspended by his knees, his outstretched hands awaited his wife to step forward. Mary was a graceful beauty with a swan like neck and a brilliant smile, stepped off the board, leaping into the air. She caught the first fly bar easily and began to propel herself towards back and forth, preparing for her next stunt.

When she picked up enough momentum, she would let go of the bar to execute a perfect quadruple somersault before catching her husband's waiting hands. The crowd felt silent as they saw Mary complete the somersault, her agile body sailing towards her husband's outstretched hand, moving through midair like a human Catherine wheel. John caught her easily and the crowd exploded into applause.

And then it went horribly _wrong_.

Like the rest of the horrified spectators, Bruce could only watch as the weight of the couple on the fly bar snapped the ropes attached to it. The sudden drop and the smooth surface of the fly bar gave Jon no traction to maintain his grip and it was lost in a split second. Neither of them screamed as they plunged to the ground though if they did, it would have been lost in the shocked cries of the audience.

They landed in a sickly thud of bone and flesh against the sawdust, the height they'd fallen from allowed no chance of survival. As the blood spread across the sawdust, creating a pool of red around their broken bodies, only silence followed. The audience was still too stunned and horrified to find the words though it would be only a momentary pause before the chaos erupted. Before the screams began.

Bruce thought he was going to be sick. John and Mary's bloodied bodies were so reminiscent of that night in Crime Alley that he could barely stand it. The only thing missing was...

Oh Jesus Christ. _The boy_.

Bruce raised his eyes slowly to the trapeze board, feeling the world slow around him. He almost didn't't want to look at the eight year boy staring down at his dead parents, wearing an expression that ripped the very core right out of Bruce Wayne. It was a reflection of anguish and horror that would be years in the making, that had killed a childhood as surely as the people lying dead before the audience. It was everything that he'd fought so hard to prevent, to ensure would never happen again.

It wasn't just his failure that Bruce Wayne saw in the boy's face, it was _himself_.

The screaming didn't stop. It lanced through the brain like a splinter bent on driving him mad.

Unable to think or even fight back, the only action that Clark could take was to leave the farm before he lost complete control of himself and inadvertently harmed both Lois and Martha in the process. The pain was all encompassing, the white sound eclipsing all his senses, demanding his attention by using any means at its disposal to make him submit. Forced to the skies, Clark had no choice but to answer the desperate call of a ship whose origins he knew nothing about. Only that it needed help and he was the only one who could provide it.

Struggling to maintain some semblance of control, Clark slipped out of his everyday clothes, hastily changing into his suit to avoid exposing his identity, all the while enduring the torturous ringing pounding through his skull. Had he presence of mind to think of it, he would have wondered whether or not Smallville's residents had looked up into the evening sky and seen Superman flying by. Most likely wondering what catastrophe had taken place locally that warranted his appearance. However, his current circumstances allowed him no such preponderance.

And yet despite the agony he felt, there was something familiar about all this, even if the intensity was different. In fact, the closer he got to the source of the white hot sound, Clark became convinced this was not the first time he had been assaulted this way.

Jor-El had often summoned him like this.

This noise that he had so dreaded in his youth was the same as what he was experiencing now, he was sure of it. But it was impossible! With Zod imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and the Brain Interactive Construct destroyed for good, there was no way for a Kryptonian to escape and come to Earth, no way for any technology that did not originate from the fortress to find its way back to him. Indeed it couldn't even be the fortress that was issuing this summons.

After the Jor-El matrix had sacrificed itself to destroy Brainiac, the fortress a shell of its former self. It was now little more than an interactive archive that would answer questions when asked but the guidance that Jor-El had offered was no more. That aspect of the fortress was gone forever, much to Clark's sorrow. For so many years, he had only wished Jor-El to leave him alone. Now that the last trace of his biological father was gone forever, Clark felt anything but relief.

How this had come to pass was incidental to his immediate problems. The sound, a Kryptonian siren song that only he could hear was overriding all his senses. The pain could not harm him permanently but that didn't mean he wanted to endure it any longer than he had to.

He was barely aware of the journey as he flew across the length of Lowell County where Smallville was located. Familiar landmarks rushed past him but Clark was in no condition to appreciate them. He was nothing but a red blue blur as he soared across the skies of Riley Field where the Smallville Fertilizer plant, now reopened by Lex, stood. Crater Lake rushed past him, as did Burnham Wood and Shuster's Gorge. For a moment, Clark actually wondered if the ship was speeding towards the fortress, the white noise leading him like he was tethered to it.

But he soon realized they were not going north but moving from one end of Smallville to the other.

When it appeared that he might have been nearing the source of the sound, Clark realized exactly where he had been brought. He even wondered if the place was transmitting some unknown signal that directed all alien traffic to it. The place was Miller's Field. It was here, that his parents had found him years ago when his rocket ship crashed during the Great Meteor Shower of Smallville.

Using his enhanced vision as he descended into the field, Clark caught his first glimpse of the craft and confirmed his suspicions about the ship's origins. The ship was from Krypton.

It led a trail of destruction across the unfarmed parcel of land. The ground was smoking with the charred remains of incinerated corn and grass, presumable from the engines when it finally touched down. This ship had landed badly with the nose coming in too low, creating great rips in the earth when it finally touched down. Its velocity propelled it ahead nonetheless, plowing the land before it came to a gradual stop. The destruction ensured that was no hiding this from anyone. There were intermittent fires of still burning vegetation scattered across the field but these he had to ignore for the moment.

He had to know what this ship was. Approaching it, he could see its angular shape, wedge-like in its configuration. Once it had come to a stop, its nose was partially buried in the dirt but the rest of it remained visible. Clark was immediately reminded of the Black Ship, the one piloted by the Brain Interactive Construct to Earth who caused so much destruction and death.

_Like Chloe_, he thought sadly.

Clark closed in quickly on the Kryptonian ship. The impossibility of its presence had superseded the evidence of his eyes. The engines were still rumbling with life and Clark saw that instead of being black like Brainiac's ship, this one was red and with its engines activated, resembled an ember of hot coal in the fire place. It continued to emit is high pitched wail making Clark race towards it at super speed. When he reached the hull, he noted the symbols displayed along the length of its wings.

What they meant sent such a wave of shock through him that for an instant, he forgot the noise because these weren't just symbols of a dead language; this was a message to _him_.

_To_ _the son of Jor-El, we give our most precious gift, the only thing we have left to us of Argo, the last city of Krypton_.

What? Clark's astonishment at those words almost overrode the pain he was feeling. The intensity of the sound was ear splitting now, as if it was reaching crescendo and Clark shook off the mystery to silence it once and for all. It didn't take him long to find the means to do that. What passed for the ships canopy bore an octagonal symbol against its hull, not unlike the disk he had recovered from the Kawachi Caves.

The etched symbol reacted immediately to Clark's touch. The screaming sound noise stopped abruptly without any warning. For a few seconds, Clark stood there, letting the ringing in his ears diminished to nothingness. Nevertheless, it still left a bitter metallic aftertaste in his mouth but Clark was already recovering quickly and as his senses returned to normal, he became acutely aware of the state of Miller's Field and how exposed he was.

First things first, Clark decided, putting his curiosity about the ship aside for the moment, to extinguish the flames caused by the landing. It took only one extended exhale on his part and the flames were snuffed out, bathing the field in darkness once more although he knew it wouldn't be long before people came to investigate.

While Miller's Field was on the other side of Smallville and not terribly populated, there were still a few farms scattered about the area and those engines had sounded like a plane doing a flyby. The landing would have been even louder than that. Even if no one had noticed that, it surely had to be tracked by satellite when it entered the atmosphere. Whatever needed to be done with the ship, he needed to do it fast because company was almost certainly coming.

However, when Clark turned back to the ship, his senses were invaded by another sound just as compelling as that high pitched scream.

Crying, someone inside the ship was crying.

Pressing down on the octagonal symbol again, it radiated with a bright white light before the ship's canopy retracted. The hatch slid back with a low, metal screech to expose the cockpit that was just large enough for one occupant in a prone position. Except when Clark laid his eyes on that one person, they weren't lying in serene repose but crouched against the wall of that small space, body shuddering from wracking sobs.

It was a _girl_.

"Hey," Clark's tone became gentle immediately. "Its okay, no one's going to hurt you." He wasn't sure if she could speak English but assumed that like most Kryptonians who travelled to Earth, there had been some kind of language imprint on route. Certainly, every Kryptonian who'd arrived on Earth had been able to communicate.

She raised her chin and stared at him, blue eyes filled with tears that showed despair and fear. He estimated she was about fifteen, perhaps even younger. She was just a kid. With long blond hair that lie across her shoulders and face in an unruly tangle, her wet cheeks were still chubby with baby fat. She was wearing some kind of white shift, with a blue, gold pendant held around her neck with a thin gold chain. Clark thought she was very pretty and would be dazzling when she grew up but right now, all he saw was fear.

Her eyes latched onto him and he noted her brows furrowed in confusion.

When she spoke, it was a stutter. "Uncle...uncle...Jor-El?"

Clark's eyes widened.

"No," he corrected her but was nonetheless surprised as all hell by the assumption. "I'm Kal-El. Jor-El was my father." He introduced himself politely making no sudden moves. She looked like a frightened rabbit, ready to jump at the slightest movement. Besides, his memory of Diana was a lesson well learnt about dealing with super powered females who were caught unawares.

"No," she shook her head as if he'd reveal some preposterous truth, "you can't be! Kal-El was a baby! He laughed when I tickled his feet."

_Still did_ but that was for Lois to know, Clark thought to himself.

"You knew me on Krypton?" Clark couldn't help but smile at that, though if she did, she would have been older than him. "Who are you?" He had to ask. She's obviously known Jor-El to make the mistake that he was his father and she'd called him Uncle. Was that because they were related in some way?

"I'm Kara," she whispered, still appearing as if she was trying to wrap her head around what was happening. "Jor-El was ...was... my father's brother but I don't understand...my father said that I had to come here to find Jor-El to help Argo City."

With a flash of insight, Clark guessed what might have happened but he had to ask Kara to tell her story nonetheless. "This Argo City was in trouble?"

"Yes," she nodded wildly, "my father was a scientist too and…and…he protected Argo City by creating the Dome. We lived inside of it for years. I was nine cycles when Krypton was destroyed. We drifted out of the system but the Dome kept us safe until the sickness came."

"The sickness?" Clark asked

"Yes, we didn't understand why but people were getting sick. We tried to build ships to bring everyone to Earth but we couldn't get them ready in time. This pod was the only thing that could leave the city. My parents said I had to come to Earth to find Jor-El so that he could help us."

Clark made the calculations. If Kara was nine when he was a baby, then she would have spent five years in space in her Argo City. He would have been six years old by the time she left her home to come here. The journey from Krypton to Earth with Kryptonian technology should have taken months, not this length of time.

There was only one reason why it had taken her almost two decades to get here. She was in stasis all that time and he was certain her father knew she would be. Perhaps it was the only way a desperate father could convince his frightened child to leave without her parents. In the same way that Jor-El had sent him here to Earth so that he would not die with Krypton, Clark was certain Jor-El's brother had done for Kara.

Finally, Clark understood what the message on the ship _really_ meant.

Their greatest gift to him was Kara, his _cousin_.

Lex's desire for a Thanksgiving with his family came to an abrupt end shortly after he and Lana had started to clear the dinner table once the meal was done. They'd eaten early to accommodate Laura's bedtime after which he intended to spend the evening watching television with the little girl and stealing some quality time with Lana. Lex had also planned to tell her what they'd found at Reeves Dam.

There had been a moment when he had considered hiding the truth from her but it was a fleeting. thought. He could not forget that his relationship with Lana had really started to evolve out of their mutual need for answers regarding the Black Ship. Hiding it from her now would be a betrayal on a very profound level. Lana had given him a second chance at the family he'd always wanted and it was not about to squander it.

All Lex had ever wanted was to be a better man for her and part goal of that required honesty. He wasn't going to lie to her now that they were beginning their life together again. She was his partner in all things and this was one instance where he would have to trust her. If he didn't she'd never trust him again.

The call from Dr. Groll had come through to him by way of his cell and though he had resolved to ignore the call, the number of times Groll had called, was too many for Lex to ignore. The insistence of the man to reach him after his explicit instructions made Lex draw no other conclusion other than something of urgent had come up. After he taken the call and learnt what had happened, it was all he could do to keep himself from flinging the cell against the wall.

Groll's incompetence had forced him to bring up the subject now instead of later after Laura had gone to bed because even after five years, Lana could read him well enough to know something was wrong.

This was exactly the case when he returned to the dining room where he'd been helping her clear the table because right away, she knew something was troubling him.

"Lex?" She asked, her brow's knotting in concern. "What is it?"

Lex exhaled loudly, dispelling his reluctance to get the words out. "Lana, I was trying to save this conversation until after Laura went to bed but something's happened that I need to tell you about now." He stared at her apologetically across the table. In the next room, they could hear the television blaring with holiday cartoons, keeping Laura sufficiently entertained while they had this discussion.

"This sounds serious," Lana retorted even though she'd guessed as much just by the look of him, without his even having to admit that it was. Setting down the plate in her hand onto the forming stack on the table, she prepared to listen.

"I know what Fine was after when he killed my father and framed me for Chloe's death." Lex announced, watching her reaction closely as he spoke.

Her expression became granite but her eyes burned with rage at the sound of _that_ name. Fine had taken Chloe away, ruined her marriage and near destroyed her family. When his crime was discovered, he had threatened her baby's life. There were some things that couldn't be forgiven and even though Fine was dead, as much as a living computer could die, Lana didn't feel he had paid nearly enough for what he had done.

"Why?" she asked, her voice icy.

"There was another ship in Reeve's dam, another Black Ship," Lex answered and saw a shudder run through her. However, she was listening intently so he continued. "Dr. Groll told me about it when I was down at the dam today. It had crashed into a section of the facility that Fine, when he was posing as my father, had kept restricted. I think that during the second meteor shower, when we had that seismic disturbance, it had become dislodged from wherever it was and slammed into an outer wall."

The timeline fit because Lana remembered the occasion when Lex had left her and the baby to go investigate the damage. It was shortly after that, everything started to go wrong.

"If it's been there all this time, "Lana replied evenly, refusing to become overwhelmed by the implications, "then what was Fine doing? He could have removed it at any time?"

Lana knew the whole truth about Fine even more than Lex did because of Clark. She knew he wasn't really a person and that he was a Kryptonian AI. What terrified her now was that this ship could be some kind of failsafe to restore his program in case he was destroyed.

"I don't know," Lex admitted, glad that he had told Lana because she not only could handle the information, she had valuable insights he might not have considered. "I ordered Groll to move the ship somewhere safe but not to touch it. From what I remembered about the Black Ship, Fine made sure human contact would activate some defense system. The fool..." he paused, his jaw ticked at keeping his composure because he was furious at the doctor. "He touched it."

"Oh no," Lana gasped needing to sit down now. "What did it do?" She was almost afraid to ask.

Lex didn't mince words. "It killed everyone on the boat, except for Groll and flew off."

"Oh my god..." She cried, her eyes filling with horror and sympathy as she thought of those poor souls lost because of one man's haste. However, she allowed her vulnerability a moment of time before her mind switched to more practical concerns. "Lex, we have to find that ship."

Lex almost smiled, a woman worthy of him he thought. "We've tracked it to Miller's Field, I was about to tell you that I need to leave to go deal with this."

"I'm coming with you," she stated. Her tone indicated it wasn't a request.

"Lana," Lex hesitated, uncertain he wanted the mother of his child anywhere near that ship. "I don't know if that's a goo idea."

Lana was having none of that. "Lex I don't want to hear it," She said firmly, "I'm _going_."

He gave up. Just the gleam in her eyes told Lex, she would be obdurate on this point and a part of him that was thrilled that she would be at his side on this. '

"Alright," he conceded. "We _did_ start this together." Lex reminded her affectionately.

Lana smiled at him with similar regard but inwardly, she knew this time, she was the one keeping secrets.

**THE CROW'S NEST**

**DESMACHER TOWER**

Grace liked coming here.

The crow's nest perched atop of Desmacher Tower, one of the tallest buildings in Metropolis was as its name promised; a place to see the entire city from one end of New Troy island to the other. From Metropolis Harbor to Centennial Park and even Suicide Slum, this spot hid nothing from the observer. It was a panoramic view of this world's greater city. Even the skyline was impressive, punctuated by tall, gleaming skyscrapers, the crown jewel of which was the LexCorp building, standing defiantly over all challengers, like the WGBS Building, Wayne's Metropolis Tower, Queen Industries and the grand lady, the Daily Planet.

With the wind rushing through her red hair, Grace was felt a little less homesick when she stood above this the vast urban sprawl, filled with its little people going about their little lives, waiting for the boot that would bring order to their lives. They would appreciate the ecstasy of submission once they were free from the chaos of free will. She had been in this city for only a number of months but already, she felt nothing but contempt by humanity's arrogance that hope was the miracle salve to all their woes.

Most of all, she was tired of Superman who was the standard bearer for this childish wave of optimism. All it did was weaken them, made them leave their hearts exposed in their chests, ripe for the impaling. Just like Superman was weak.

All that power, squandered on sentimental heroics.

However, tonight, something had _changed_. Something had cried out to her in fear, begging for help. It pierced her thoughts with its desperation, reaching out to her from a distance, making her flinch with its intense scream. Grace wasn't certain if she could track it, she needed the expertise of someone better suited for the hunt than she. But she had to move fast, she recognized it for what it was.

The distress beacon of a _Kryptonian_ ship.

Darkseid would want to know.

Activating the communicator which looked like a woman's compact, it lit up with red glow before an explosion of sound, easily mistaken for a thunderclap, boomed through the air. It sent the birds perched a top the building, flap their wings frantically to escape. There was a sudden gasp of wind in front of her, like someone had taken a deep breath, before the portal formed in mid air. It was not large enough for her enter but it was certainly wide enough for a signal to be established between Earth and home.

Grace waited until a face appeared through the swirling eddies of quantum particles before she spoke to the other side. "Brother I have news for Darkseid. I've detected another Kryptonian signal."

The face looking back at her was only a few years older, with the same red hair and piercing blue eyes. "Are you sure it's not that Kryptonian flying around your city?" Her brother asked skeptically.

"No," she said quickly dismissing the notion. "It's a ship's distress signal I'm sure of it and its Kryptonian. It could be Brainiac. It's been months since his battle with the Kryptonian. We've had no word from him since. I believe this could be him after repairing himself."

"Alright," he finally agreed. "He was to be our intermediary with Zod in the Zone. Darkseid wants that alliance to happen for his Anti-Life research. I'll get Granny to send the Furies. Lash will help you track the signal with the Swan's help."

"The Swan?" Grace shuddered. The fiercest of Granny's furies, Grace preferred to keep her distance but she had no say in the matter.

"Yes," Godfrey replied. "I believe she's _local_."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:  
Devastation**

Clark had serious misgivings about leaving Kara's ship behind but under the circumstances, he had no other choice.

While he was certainly capable of taking the craft to the fortress, he couldn't be certain if he could do it without half of Lowell County seeing him. Smallville wasn't Metropolis but Clark couldn't discount the possibility that a handful of people may have seen the ship come down in Miller's Field after its brief flight. Furthermore, where had it originated from in the first place? For all he knew, it could have flown across town and removing it might result in more questions being asked than leaving it where it was.

In any case, he had more immediate concerns.

Kara was still very much in distraught state of mind. She had stopped crying but now appeared to be in shock. When Clark bundled her up in his cape, she offered no protest. She submitted to his will because the fight had bled out of her once she realized she was too late to save the people she'd left behind. As he carried her, she felt very small in his grasp and Clark was reminded a rabbit he had found when he was thirteen. Bloody and mangled, he had found it cowering under some bushes, after being set upon by a dog. Clark never forgot how the look of terror in its eyes despite his good intentions. Kara reminded him of that rabbit right now.

The low whine of sirens, quickly identified as emergency services vehicles of some type, reached his ears from across the distance. A quick scan with his telescopic vision confirmed which it was. Fire trucks and police cars led the convoy on route here. The local authorities would cordon off the place once they saw the ship. After that, it wouldn't be long before the military showed too.

That is if Lex didn't beat them to it first.

Enough of Lex's memory, after Brainiac's mind wipe, had remained for his former friend to maintain his predilection for the unusual. Time had not changed Lex's obsession for alien technology or strange phenomena. Despite Clark's falling out with Lana at not revealing the truth about Lex's innocence at Chloe's death, they had still enough of an understanding for the restored Mrs. Luthor to keep him apprised of Lex's activities in this regard. Lana had sworn long ago she would keep his secret and despite their estrangement, she was still keeping that promise. Fortunately, while Lex retained memories of Milton Fine and the Black Ship, he hadn't yet associated it with either Krypton or Superman.

Before the occupants of the approaching vehicles could catch a glimpse of him, Clark decided it was time to leave. As much as he did not like leaving the ship behind, in a choice between it and the girl, there was no contest. At least Clark could take comfort in the fact that the ship was incapable of giving up its secrets to anyone who wasn't from the House of El.

Leaving behind Miller's Field, Clark also had another dilemma to confront. As much as he wanted to believe that Kara was indeed his own flesh and blood, he knew his need for connection with Krypton was a weakness easily exploitable. After all, hadn't Jor-El done the same thing? This wasn't the first girl named Kara Clark had encountered. Of course, those circumstances were very different to this occasion. Back then, he'd been fighting his Kryptonian heritage with fibre of his being. Jor-El had been forced to resort to trickery in order for him to face it.

Now Jor-El was gone. The fortress was little more than an archive housing all Kryptonian knowledge but the sentient program that had been such a big part of Kal-El's life was gone. Even as he debated this, he knew without doubt that the ship was from Krypton. With his enhanced vision, he'd been able to verify its authenticity. The language on the hull was the language of his dead race and the ship reacted specifically to his DNA. Jor-El's training had left him with enough acumen to tell the difference between the real thing and a fake.

The ship was real and if the ship was real then so was the _girl_.

And if she was really from his bloodline, was doubting her the best way to begin their relationship? Even as he flew home, he could feel her breath against his skin, the soft shudders of stifled tears against his chest. Kara was clearly traumatized by her abrupt awakening to find that everything and everyone she had ever known and loved was lost forever. At least Clark had the benefit of never remembering Krypton or his biological parents. What he did not know, he could not miss and Jonathan and Martha had filled that void so superbly, he never felt the loss as acutely as he should.

However, it was different for Kara. She did remember her parents. They were memories fresh in her mind as was her Argo City and its people. The realization that she was twenty years too late, to help them was devastating, even more so because her father had tricked her into making the journey. Alone and lost on a new world with powers that ensured alienation from everyone Clark couldn't even begin to imagine how she must feel. Even at the worst moments of his youth, Clark was never isolated. He had his parents, Chloe, Pete and for a time, Lex.

Shock and grief had kept Kara from registering that they were flying and Clark wondered what preparation had she been given for life on Earth. Had Zor-El told her about the effects of the yellow sun on her physiology? Did she have any inkling about the tremendous power she now possessed? Where Argo City had been? Did its people have powers? Despite his sensitivity to Kara's fragile state of mind, Clark also wanted to ply her with a thousand questions. Yet as she pressed her head in the crook of his arm and wept softly to herself, the heart in his chest melted and he could not bring himself to do any of that.

After it was all said and done, Kara was just a frightened kid.

Arriving at the farm, his return was announced by the sudden tinkling of wind chimes on the porch and squeal that came from the weather vane on the roof spinning wildly. Inside the house, curtains rustled with the sudden gust of wind that came about from his descent. No sooner than Clark had touched down on the walk before the front steps, Lois burst out through the door, with Martha following closely behind.

"What the hell Smallville?" Lois demanded in typical indignation as she marched up to him. "You scared the crap out of us, flying off like that!" Her voice was full of bluster and annoyance that Clark knew to be her worry for him.

Instead of apologizing however, Clark stayed her outrage with a shake of his head. "Lois," he said gently, indicating she had to calm down because there were more important things afoot. Parting his cape, he revealed Kara's form huddled against him. Her arms were still wrapped around his neck and she was clinging to him the way a child would cling to its mother.

Lois fell silent immediately at the sight of the young waif Clark was holding in his arms. Right away, Lois could tell she was young. No more than fifteen by her estimation. The puffy cheeks stained with tears, the red nose and the bloodshot eyes told the reporter that the girl had been through an ordeal she had yet to recover from.

Meanwhile, Martha could only see the disconsolate expression that made her want to immediately give the girl a hug and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

"Mom, Lois, this is Kara," Clark introduced her to two women who were staring at him, wanting answers as to how this had come about. Not wanting to launch into a lengthy explanation about Kara's origins at the moment, Clark gave them the best abridged version he could. "I found her in Miller's Field. She came down in a ship from Krypton."

While Lois didn't get the significance of the location, Martha certainly did.

Miller's Field was the place she and Jonathan had found Clark so many years ago. If a ship from Krypton was going to crash in Smallville once again, why shouldn't it pick a place that had already been used for the purpose? However, Clark's brief statement would have to do for now. Further explanations could wait until the girl was taken care of. Her maternal instinct kicking in, Martha approached the girl cautiously.

"Hello Kara," Martha said kindly, reaching for her cheek gently, "I'm Martha. You're safe now dear. We're going to take care of you."

"Yeah," Lois added her voice to mix, gratified that Mrs. Kent was taking the lead on this. Despite her burning curiosity, she was hip to Mrs. Kent's need to assuage the girl's obvious trauma. A surge of admiration filled her as she saw Martha Kent using that wonderfully reassuring voice, capable of healing wounds that might have been just too much for any child to bear. "You can trust us Kara," Lois said offering a similar smile, "You're going to be okay."

Kara's eyes touched the two women uncertainly but the warm touch of the older woman made her feel a little better. _Just like mother_, Kara thought until she remembered that Alura In-Zee was now gone. She had died twenty years ago along with her father, her friends Tayla and Dor-En and the rest of Argo City. The realisation that they were dead and the magnitude of the loss threatened fresh tears she barely managed to stifle but somehow held back nonetheless. Nodding slowly to show that she understood, Kara said nothing else, too overwhelmed to comprehend anything beyond the grief she felt.

"Clark, let's get her into the house." Martha urged quickly, taking charge of the situation. The poor girl looked scared to death. Those tears were about more than just fear, Martha was convinced of this without hearing the whole story of how Kara had come to be on Earth. "Take her upstairs to the spare room. Lois, do you have some clothes she could wear?" Like a general issuing orders, Martha didn't wait to get a response as she directed her son and daughter-in-law (almost) to help the new arrival in their midst.

"Yeah sure," Lois nodded, conditioned to obey Martha Kent as much as she was to obey her father the General, _especially_ when she was spouting orders like that. She wanted to help Kara as much as Clark and Martha but recognised that comfort and nurture was just not apart of her makeup. Rescuing studly naked aliens in cornfields she could do; _this_ was harder.

As she bounded up the steps, Clark moved past her with a loud swoosh that had her hair blowing in all directions as he disappeared through the doors.

Sweeping her gaze across the expanse of the farm to ensure no one had seen Superman disappear into her house, Martha followed them in wondering what else the night had in store for them.

Bruce was walking around in a vacuum.

Even though he one amongst a crowd, no sound penetrated the bubble of his thoughts. He could see people around him and occasionally one would stop and talk to him but the voice was muted and the words went unheard. It wouldn't matter even if he could hear them, at this moment words felt meaningless. As he moved through the Big Top, nothing felt quite real, the whole scene had an intangibility about it; like he was peering into someone else's nightmare.

The burst of a camera flash bulb made him flinch and Bruce blinked once or twice to dispel the spots that danced a myriad of colours in his eyes as the brilliant flare subsided. When his vision returned to normal, his gaze followed the direction at which the camera lens was focused. The scene it captured sent fresh icicles of cold lancing through him as he stared down at the blood soaked sawdust within the circus ring.

Contrary to popular belief, there was no chalk line to indicate where the bodies had been, just a bright red stain that spread out across the ground, creating a macabre outline of their skulls after they had landed. As they had in life, the Graysons commanded the centre ring in death. All eyes were focussed where they had fallen.

The coroner had taken away the bodies after receiving the all clear from the Forensics Team who had collected as much evidence from the Graysons as they could before spreading out to the immediate scene. Once the Graysons were away, all that was left for they to do was to catalogue every facet of the scene for analysis later. Painstakingly sifting through the detritus of the tragedy, the technicians appeared clinical and unaffected despite the tragedy affecting everyone else. Bruce admired their detachment.

Cops were spread out through the room, carrying out a multitude of duties, their blue uniforms giving the chaos some foundation. They were cordoning off the scene, keeping the audience in the tent and away from the crime scene, some were taking eye witness statements while others tried to hold back the media frenzy outside the Big Top. Reporters, photographers, the full brazen cadre of the fourth estate were demanding entry, enemies at the gate who wanted their big story.

The folk of Haly's Circus was nowhere that animated. While they were being interviewed, their colourful costumes a vulgar contrast to the sorrow he saw on their faces. There was no doubt as to how profoundly affected they were by what had gone on here tonight. Their faces ran the gamut of shock, horror and grief as they came to grips with the loss of two were more than just colleagues and friends but rather family. Bruce didn't think he was influenced by some Hollywood cliché or a romanticism regarding carnival life. It was the truth. He could see it in the anguish of the faces before him.

Bruce was moving through the proceedings like a ghost, present but affecting nothing. He only paused when he saw he caught sight of Commissioner Jim Gordon talking to the boy. _Little Robin Redbreast who'd fly no more_.

The child was sitting on a hay bale, perhaps even the same one that he had been perched on when Bruce had spoken to him earlier that evening. It felt like a lifetime ago now. Jim had put a blanket around his small, slumped shoulders and was drying his wet cheeks with a checked handkerchief. The scene could have been a snapshot from almost twenty years ago when Gordon had comforted another boy who's world was similarly shattered.

For what could be the first time in his life, Bruce thought he was going to be _sick_.

He had to walk away to a secluded corner of the tent and pull himself together because he didn't want to be seen like this. Crushing the sick that wanted to crawl up his throat, Bruce told himself that he had dealt with this a long time ago. He couldn't be the Bat and do what he had to, if he couldn't get a handle on his emotions. Yet Bruce knew he was not made of stone. He did feel and sometimes there were people who broke through his defences to show him just how much apart of the human race he still was, despite his best efforts to deny the fact. People, like Alfred, Clark, Lois, Diana and of course Chloe.

And now it seemed _this boy_.

This boy who would go through all the things he had, who would cry the same tears and feel the same anguish and rage at being unable to understand the violence done to him. He would begin his holy war against Fate and stumble in the dark for a path to follow, a path that could make him an even worse monster than those who had harmed his parents or make him something to celebrate their life. Bruce saw all this in front of the boy and knew he wanted something better for young Dick Grayson.

Uncertain of what was in his mind, Bruce approached Jim and the boy, listening closely.

"...its going to be alright son," Jim's kind voice said.

_No it wasn't,_ Bruce rejected silently, _its never going to be alright ever again_. The shattered look in the boy's eyes said as much. Still, Bruce couldn't deny the affection he felt for Jim Gordon at the moment, the good man who had been there for him the night his parents were murdered, whose strength of character were things to aspire too, even more than the pageantry of the Bat.

"Commissioner," Bruce cleared his throat.

Jim looked over his shoulder, annoyed at the interruption but then his expression softened because he remembered who he was talking to. Not just the wastrel billionaire who appeared as if he didn't have a single, sensible thought in his head but once upon a time, a child who had lost his parents the way young Dick Grayson had. When he stood up, he saw in Bruce Wayne's usual vapid face, the same anguished expression of twenty years ago. Dick's tragedy had affected him on a very personal level and Jim forgot all about the man's history after that day.

"Mr. Wayne," Jim eyed him with concern, having no heart to be impatient with the man right now, even if this was not the time for an interruption. Dick was the one who'd lost his parents tonight.

Bruce was accustomed to Jim referring to him as 'Mr. Wayne' before this but tonight, it felt wrong. The formality of it didn't fit the occasion at all.

"Is there...anything that I can do...to help?" Bruce asked, the words escaping him in an uncharacteristic stammer that Gordon recognised for what it was.

Jim felt a wave of sympathy for Bruce then, understanding why the man was here, how connected he must feel to young Dick Grayson at this moment. He supposed if there was anyone who understood what Dick Grayson was feeling right now, it was Bruce Wayne. Jim wasn't blind to the parallels between the two right now and thought that perhaps the man could help a little.

Stepping away from he boy, who barely noticed their departure, Jim led Bruce a few feet away and spoke in a quiet voice to prevent Dick from hearing them, if the boy was in the mind to eavesdrop which Jim didn't think he was. "Could you stay with him awhile? I can get one of my cops to do it but I think you might be better for the job." He didn't have to elaborate why. "We're going to have to arrange somewhere for him to stay tonight. He doesn't have any family and due to the nature of the crime, he can't stay at the Circus. Unfortunately, its going to have to be Child Services."

The thought made Bruce's jaw clench so hard, it was surprised that Jim didn't hear it through the chatter under the Big Top. Without even considering what was coming out of his mouth, Bruce found himself speaking. "Jim, he can stay at the manor for the night. At least until you decide what comes next. His first night _without them_ shouldn't be...at Child Services."

Jim stared. He hadn't expected that much insight from Bruce, not based on his impressions of the man since reaching adulthood. The idea was a good one because Wayne Manor had all kinds of security that would ensure the press got nowhere near the boy. Child Services seemed like a cruelty to inflict upon the boy after what had happened tonight and he knew Alfred Pennyworth. The butler had kept in touch with Jim Gordon after the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, letting Jim know how young Bruce was doing as well as getting updates on Joe Chill's parole hearings. If Bruce was an uncertainty, Alfred Pennyworth certainly was not.

However, Jim still had his reservations, "Mr. Wayne, I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Jim," Bruce found himself using a tone that the man would have found familiar on another occasion. He knew he shouldn't but tonight, Bruce wasn't as in control as he should be. "I've been where he is right now. Both me and Alfred."

Jim's eyes met his immediately. A flicker of recognition appeared in them before it subsided. His expression went from hard to sympathetic in a brief moment of exchange before he nodded, " I guess you do." Exhaling loudly, Jim nodded. "Alright Mr. Wayne, he can go with you tonight but I'll need him at the precinct tomorrow morning and we'll have to decide a more permanent settlement for him."

" I understand," Bruce answered, gears already turning in his head.

A few seconds later, Bruce found himself dropping to his knees in front of Dick Grayson, heart clenching at the sight of fresh tears running down the boy's cheeks. Bruce felt fresh rage at the act of brutality which made that happy, charming child of earlier into this frail, broken boy.

"Hello Dick," Bruce said gently.

Dick raised his chin at the voice and met Bruce's gaze. "Mis...Mister Wayne." He stuttered, his lower lip trembling.

_He was so young_. Bruce found it hard to believe that he too, had been that young once, that devastated. "We're friends Dick, you can call me Bruce."

Dick Grayson nodded mutely, looking at Bruce with blue eyes filled with anguish and fear. "My mom and dad..." he stuttered, "they...they...fell."

Bruce blinked, feeling his emotions well up hearing that tiny voice making that childlike admission. "I know," he nodded. "I'm so sorry Dick." He said touching the small shoulder.

"They...they...never fall. Not...not even at practice...why...why did they fall?" Dick demanded, needing answers, confusion etched in his face as he tried to wrap his mind around how it had happened.

"I don't know," Bruce answered and hated that he had to lie. He had heard enough to know that the ropes holding the trapeze that hadn't just given way, they had been _cut_. However, Dick wasn't ready to hear the word 'murder' associated with his parents' death. That would come soon enough. "No one has the answers yet. It will take a few days for them to know for sure."

"What...what...about me?" Dick asked, sniffling loudly with fear exuding from every pore. "Can I stay with the circus?"

"No," Bruce shook his head slowly. " I'm afraid not Dick. Until they know what happened to your parents, you can't stay here."

Anguish became despair and he burst out, a litany of childish fears passing his lips as he stared at Bruce, needing help and not knowing how to get it. "But...I don't know...anyone...else... we never had...a real... home...I don't have any uncles...or aunts...or grandparents. Everyone I know is here!" He looked around the circus. " I don't want to go away where I won't see Mr. Haley and my friends!"

More anything Bruce wanted to tell him that he was going to be safe but that wasn't a promise he was prepared to make. "No one's going to stop you from seeing them," Bruce assured him but you can't stay here tonight. Not until the police figure out what happened tonight."

Dick didn't look like he understood as he sniffled again, wiping away his tears with the back of his hand. However, he nodded, resigned to the fact that was going to happen to him was going to take place whether he had a say or not. That defeat nearly broke Bruce's heart.

"Dick," Bruce drew in a breath and asked, "would you like to come home with me? Just for tonight? I promise I'll bring you straight back here as soon as they tell me its okay too. If that's what you want."

The offer caught the boy off guard and he stopped sniffling, looking at Bruce as if he were seeing the man for the first time. Mr. Wayne didn't tell him everything was going to be okay, he seemed to tell Dick the truth. He'd only met Bruce tonight but there was something in the way the man spoke to him that gave Dick the sense that Bruce might be okay, that he understood what Dick was feeling. That saying he'd feel better wouldn't make it so.

Nothing would make it better. Not ever again.

Hesitantly, Dick nodded. The momentary pause between sobs had ended and the pain swelled up inside him again, forcing the grief to completely overwhelm his emotions. With nowhere else to go, the despair escaped him in loud wracking sobs and as dam broke, the torrent of anguish drove him to wrap his small arms around his new friend's neck.

He didn't even notice when Bruce Wayne hugged him back.

Lex felt perfectly justified in his fury when he and Lana finally arrived at Miller's Field.

A small crowd of onlookers had formed at the perimeter of the property, held back by a mixture of LexCorp security and a dwindling number of Smallville deputies. Emergency vehicles that had rushed to the scene in anticipation of wreckage and casualties had been assured that nothing so calamitous had taken place and the crash had not resulted in any deaths or damage. His PR people had concocted an appropriately acceptable story that had them on their way once they had verified the details.

The 'official' story was LexCorp was testing a prototype military drone that had gotten away from them.

Accustomed to Luthor eccentricities over the years, the explanation satisfied the local authorities who were happy to hold the line until a LexCorp's retrieval team could arrive to remove the drone themselves. In an effort to minimize the risks of their cover story being blown, LexCorp didn't any waste time arriving on site and were in place in less than thirty minutes. A security team led by Shaw Madison, a former LuthorCorp, now LexCorp employee, had erected barricades around the ship to ensure the public did not get too close a look at the thing.

Despite the spin however, there was no denying the situation which should have been a covert night time operation had degenerated into a fully-fledged fiasco.

Lex had managed to keep secret that a handful of LexCorp employees had lost their lives that night because Dr. Groll had prematurely activated the ship when he came into contact with it. Lex had recalled Fine having some kind of security in place that kept the craft from being tampered with and Groll should have known better. The doctor was presently recuperating in a LexCorp medical facility but Lex wished he could say the same for the men on the boat who had been caught in the ship's engine burn to fatal consequences.

Driving themselves to the site, Lex and Lana arrived at Miller's Field to find LexCorp Security politely giving the local authorities leave to go. As the ship had been deemed LexCorp property, there was no need for the deputies to remain. As they departed, Lex heard some of the policemen advising the bystanders to go home. Of course, a downed aircraft, especially a prototype one, was bound to draw substantial interest in a small town. As long as the locals remained behind the barricades, Lex saw no reason for his security team to get heavy handed.

It would only imply they had something to hide. Which they did.

"Mr. Luthor, Mrs. Luthor," Shaw Madson greeted them when they stepped across the barriers and proceeded towards the ship. The area around the craft was illuminated by strobes of light radiating from hastily erected outdoor lighting.

"What's the situation?" Lex demanded as Shaw led them towards the ship.

Lana swept her gaze across the landscape and saw that the tall grass had been crushed into the dirt thanks to the heavy vehicles that had been traipsing across the field in the last hour. The ship itself had ploughed deep grooves into the ground, leaving clumps of grass and earth in two long lines behind it. The heat from the craft had created a thin veil of steam across the ground and made even more spectral by the bright glare of the lights.

"The locals bought our cover story," Shaw explained. "We've told them that we had some kind of guidance system failure. We implied that LexCorp technicians were able to bring it down in the field to keep it from crashing into a populated area and there could be some possibility of radiation leakage."

"Is there any such leakage?" Lana asked, concerned not only for herself and Lex but also because Miller's Field was surrounded by several other working farms and she did not wish to see those properties contaminated.

"Not to any level that could be considered dangerous, Mrs. Luthor," he answered. "We've had our technicians go over the ship for any such indications, just to be safe." He assured her.

"Are the engines still running?" Lex asked as he saw the silhouette of the ship appear in the distance. There seemed to be no signs of it from his initial observation but he wasn't a scientist.

"No," Shaw shook his head, repeating the data given to him by the technicians, "the ship is completely inert now except for one thing."

"What?" Lex demanded, shooting him a hard stare. This whole situation had escalated so beyond his comfort levels that he did not want to imagine something worse could happen. As it was, he was grateful that Lana was taking it the way she was, that she was proving true to her word that they were partners in this.

Shaw couldn't meet their eyes and said simply, "Its better if you look for yourself."

_That didn't sound good_, Lana thought and exchanged a glance with Lex as the technicians surrounding the ship stepped aside to give them an unobstructed view of the craft.

Lana let out a soft gasp, immediately revisited by images from seven years ago when she had first seen the Black Ship. It was almost exactly alike in design, except this one had a red tinge to its hull rather than being wholly black. Upon seeing her reaction, she felt Lex's fingers around hers and she looked down to see him looking at her with concern. A soft smile crossed her lips to reassure him she was alright before she faced front again.

The ship sat in the middle of the field and as Shaw stated earlier, showed no signs of life. The hull which had been illuminated to a bright red when its engines had ignited was now a dull, ashy colour. Even the symbols splayed across the hull were barely discernible now. However, Lana knew immediately that it wasn't this that had concerned Shaw so much but rather what was revealed by the open hatch.

It was the hatch to the cockpit and its occupant was _gone_.

Now it was Lex's turn to have his breath catch in his throat and standing next to him, Lana shared his concern. She knew what he was thinking of when he saw that empty cockpit. The Black Ship had unleashed Milton Fine into the world, an alien whose intent was to remake the Earth in the shape of another world, to prepare it for domination by his master, Zod. For Lex, Fine was _still_ at large. He knew nothing of Brainiac's destruction by Superman because Lana's promise to Clark prevented her from revealing the truth to him. So she could imagine what was in his mind at this moment.

Did this ship belong to Fine as well and was it him that emerged from it?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

**Overwhelmed**

"Well she's asleep," Martha announced as she descended the staircase to join Clark and Lois at the dining table where the couple were putting away the remnants of the half eaten Thanksgiving meal.

After taking Kara upstairs, it became clear that the person she was most comfortable with was not her cousin from Krypton but his adopted mother. This did not surprise Clark in the slightest. Martha's kind and gentle nature was just the tonic needed by a young girl who had woken up to find her own mother gone. When it became clear that it was Martha that Kara responded best to, Clark and Lois withdrew, allowing Martha to care for Kara without overwhelming her with too many new faces.

"She's still pretty shaken but at least I got her to rest. She's emotionally exhausted," Martha explained and lowered herself unto one of the chairs at the dining table.

"She's had a rough time," Clark commented as he retreated to the kitchen and started brewing Martha a cup of tea, heating the water with his heat ray vision. He had no doubt that the comment was seriously underestimating the extent of Kara's ordeal. "As far as she's concerned, she's only left Argo a couple of hours ago, not _twenty_ years."

"The poor kid," Lois shook her head as she sat down across the table from Martha. "She must be scared out of her mind."

Trying to empathize with Kara, Lois imagined what it was like to wake up one morning and find your entire world turned upside down. She reached for Martha's hand and squeezed it, a gesture of affection for the woman's ability to soothe Kara's fears. Not for the first time, Lois thought on how fortunate little Kal-El was to have been found by the Kents when he first arrived on Earth.

Then again, the Kents had welcomed a number of strays to their home over the years.

While Martha had been upstairs with Kara, Lois and Clark had the chance to talk about Kara. Was she really from Krypton? Was Clark absolutely sure on that? Her journalistic instincts made her incapable of simply accepting Kara's story on face value and she wanted to make sure that Clark's need for connection to Krypton did not affect his judgement regarding the truth of Kara's origins.

Fortunately, it appeared Clark had also similar suspicions since it wasn't the first time a girl named Kara had come to the Kent farm. Years ago, Jor-El had tricked him by sending a girl named Kara to the farm, claiming to be of Krypton. While he had learned that girl was called Lindsey Harrison, it was telling that Jor-El had chosen to name her Kara. Had Jor-El chosen that name to represent his brother's daughter? That was too much of a coincidence for Clark to ignore, coupled with the authenticity of the ship she had come from. Besides, Clark did intend to take Kara to the fortress eventually. Right now however, it was more important to help her adjust to her new situation on Earth.

In the end, Lois silenced her concerns because she trusted Clark to make the right decision. If he said Kara was from Krypton, then so be it.

"There's that," Martha agreed with Lois about how frightened Kara was as Clark put a cup of tea in front of her. Giving him an appreciative smile, Martha continued speaking a moment later when Clark returned with coffee for himself and Lois. "And the fact that she's lost her family and friends. She didn't say very much but I managed to get that from her. Kyrptonian or not, at the end of the day she's a teenager who's lost everything she ever knew. That's a terrible shock to the system."

Clark didn't disagree since that was the same story Kara had told him when he first found her in that ship. "I don't think it helped that she thought she was coming here to help this Argo City. Her father told her to come find Jor-El. When she saw m that's who she thought I was. I guess I must look like him," Clark commented, drifting off for a moment as the realisation solidified in his brain.

Clark was so accustomed to thinking as Jor-El as the disembodied voice that had plagued throughout his youth, that it was jarring to think of him as a person let alone that they shared the same genetic material. It made him sad to think all that was left of Jor-El for Clark to know was a program that depicted none of the man's warmth but only his intellect.

Noting his pensive gaze, Lois nudged his foot lightly under the table, a tiny gesture to tell him that she was here for him. Wanting to propel the discussion past that sombre pause, Lois made an attempt to get back on topic.

"Why would her father lie to her though?" She asked, not really expecting an answer although Martha had one to give.

"If I wanted my child to leave without me, I'd be willing to tell that lie," Martha replied without hesitation. She knew herself that if it she was given the choice to save Clark, she would have made that choice a dozen times over. There was nothing a parent would not do to preserve the life of their child. On that point, Martha understood Zor-El clearly. "It looks like going above and beyond seems to run in the family," she gave Clark a little smile. "Kara's father was just as determined to save her as Jor-El was about you."

Clark could not refute Martha's statement and added, "It makes sense. Kara said that her father was able to save their city _after_ Krypton's was destroyed. Somehow, it lived for five years until people starting to get sick."

"I thought once they were away from their native star system, Kryptonians were pretty invulnerable. Everyone that you've run into on Earth seems to be that way." Lois pointed out, having read Clark's journal of his experiences with Jor-El and Krypton some years ago. "I mean I'm no science geek but they couldn't keep the city in the system would they? I mean if we're thinking about a Cloud City type scenario."

Clark smiled faintly by her description but couldn't give her a definitive answer. "I didn't get that much detail from Kara about Argo but I can't imagine they would be able to stay there. There would have been too much debris. It wasn't just Krypton that was destroyed but Rao, their sun."

"Clark," Martha said ominously, a dark thought forming in her head. "What if the city was built on part of Krypton and it left the system?"

The realisation came upon him so hard and sharply, he stiffened in horror.

"Oh no," he exclaimed softly, "it would have turned to kryptonite."

Remembering how agonising it was just to be in proximity of the stuff for just a few minutes, Clark could not imagine being trapped indefinitely with that radiated material underfoot. Even though they had died twenty years ago, Clark suddenly appreciated how terrible it must be for Kara to know that she had been unable to help any of them, how helpless she must now feel because he felt the same frustration.

"Those poor people," Lois shook her head, trying to come to grips with all those lives lost and feeling for the two remaining survivors who could do nothing but mourn them.

"He must have known," Martha said, feeling the emotion well up in her eyes. "That's why he sent her away, it was the only way to save her, to get her away from it."

"I'm glad you found her," Lois said reaching for Clark's hand and squeezing it. "But now that she's here? What comes next? I mean she has your powers right?"

Clark hadn't even thought that far ahead. He knew she hadn't reacted to him flying them here but then again, she had been fairly distraught at the time. However, it wouldn't be long if those powers manifested themselves and he knew from first hand experience how overwhelming that could be.

"She will," he nodded. "I'll have to help her with that but I don't know how long it will take for it to show up. I mean most of my powers didn't come all at once. I mean some things were always there..." he mused and then turned to his mother as she'd know better than him when he'd first started to show his abilities. "Mom?"

Martha couldn't help but smile a little because she's remembered everything about Clark's formative years. She remembered the first day they brought him home. How he'd broken through playpens and smashed toys without meaning to. The first time, they'd taken him to get vaccinations (at a clinic out of town), he had bent the needles and when he started walking, they'd learned how fast he could be. When he started to run, it ended up with Martha and Jonathan chasing after him through the cornfields with the truck just to keep up with him.

"The strength and invulnerability were there from the first day," Martha replied, "the speed came a little later, when you started walking. A lot of your other powers, developed in High School, the super hearing, the x-ray vision and then there was the heat vision, remember that?" Martha glanced at him, a little mischief dancing in her eyes.

Lois saw Clark actually blush.

"Lois doesn't need to hear about that," Clark dropping his gaze to the coffee in his mug.

"What?" Lois stared at Martha and saw the older woman suppressing a smirk. "Oh come on, you've got to tell me now." She nudged Clark.

"Its nothing really," Clark cleared his throat and explained the details of how his first experience with heat ray vision had appeared when he had encountered Desiree Atkins, an extremely attractive and ultimately homicidal substitute teacher.

Lois laughed out loud.

Clark made a face at her and gruffed, "alright, alright, it's not _that_ funny."

"Actually it kind of is," Lois couldn't help it and continued to snigger until Martha swatted her lightly on the shoulder to make her stop. "Okay, okay, so Kara might have some time before it all hits her?" She said getting back on the subject again.

"I think so," Clark said uncertainly. "It took me years to get used to it but I was only a kid, she's a teenager, it might be different. I've got to help her though this."

"Well you're the only one who can," Martha agreed. "You know what's coming and she's going to have a hard enough time adjusting to being on Earth as well as these powers."

"Mom, I know it's a lot to ask but she needs to stay here." Clark said looking apologetically at Martha. "I'd take her to Metropolis with me and Lois but she's too exposed out there..."

"Honey," Martha stopped him from going any further. "Of course she can stay here and honestly, I think it's a good idea that she does. She's scared and alone. A big city is going to be very overwhelming for her right now. She can stay here and get her bearings a little. You can come home and teach her about her powers on the farm."

"Thanks mom," Clark leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

Lois was about to comment when she saw the flickering images on the television set which was still on but on mute. Her eyes widened when she saw Bruce's image on the screen.

"Clark," Lois stood up immediately and walked over to the set, picking up the remote to turn the sound back on.

"What?" He asked and followed her gaze.

"...sources claim the police have not ruled out foul play. The Flying Graysons were well known throughout the country as the best flying trapeze act in the business. With their young son, Dick Grayson, John and Mary Grayson were the only trapeze artists capable of performing the quadruple somersault. Halys Circus had been performing at a charity event sponsored by the Wayne Foundation to raise funds for Gotham City Orphanage."

The commentary was followed by an image of Bruce making a beeline for his limousine, escorted a young boy with a look of utter devastation on his face.

Those who knew him saw Bruce looking almost the same.

_What are you doing?_

_What do you think you are doing?_

_This isn't a puzzle or a crime to be solved, this is a child._

For someone who had steered most of his life towards a predestined course, Bruce Wayne found himself navigating through uncharted waters with dangerous currents he had no power to predict. Every part of his adult life was carefully considered with an outcome was never in doubt. Bruce made his decisions based on quantifiable data, an ability to play the probabilities and absolute faith in his ability to push himself beyond the limits he set for himself. He had learned the hard way, what happened when you gambled and after he had lost Chloe, he had sworn he'd never assume anything again

And yet as he carried Dick Grayson in his arms, an eight year old boy who had wrapped his thin arms around neck and allowed himself to be carried like a child, Bruce knew he was acting from a place he seldom gave time of day, his _gut_. Dick's situation that spoke to him on such a fundamental level had touched Bruce more than he'd care to admit. Here was a child, whose pain mirrored his own terrible night and something in Bruce wanted to make it better for Dick. There had to be something of value in being there before that would give him the insight on how to help this boy.

Dick had held up as they were ushered to the limousine through the chaos of exploding camera flashes, microphones thrust in his direction by reporters demanding their pound of flesh, none who seemed to possess the decency to leave the boy to his grief. It was only after they were safely in the stretched limousine, driving away from the media circus that made Haly's pale in comparison that Bruce saw his resolve crumble and he had started crying again.

He'd buried his face in Bruce's chest and wept, each sob driving needles of heartbreak through the older man. Seeing Dick's profound sorrow made Bruce remember his own. However, he also remembered how Alfred had consoled him and put a comforting arm around the boy's slight shoulders and pulled him into a hug, letting Dick's anguish bleed into fabric of his Brioni tuxedo.

At that moment, Bruce wished Diana was here. She'd know what to say to the child. She had that way about her, the calm, nurturing warmth that might have come from Gaea itself. It radiated from her like the sun. People never caught on to the fact that the most beautiful thing about Diana not her appearance but rather her kind, compassionate soul. Right now, Bruce thought Dick might have benefited from her presence.

By the time they arrived at the Manor, Dick had stopped crying but he clung to Bruce because he was eight years old and right now, he had no one else. It hurt to see the boy so broken, so wounded and Bruce was almost grateful when he saw Alfred waiting for them at the front steps. When they arrived at the manor, Bruce saw Alfred was already waiting at the front steps for them and didn't have to ask if the man had seen the new coverage of the accident.

Alfred opened the door for them as soon as the limousine stopped. As Bruce carried Dick out of the car, Alfred retrieved the small bag that had been packed for the boy before he left the circus and then gave the driver his leave to depart. Only when the vehicle was rumbling down the crushed gravel of the mansion's driveway, did Bruce address the old butler. "Alfred, this is Dick, he'll be staying with us tonight."

Even as he said those words, something told Bruce that wasn't going to be true.

"How do you do Master Dick," Alfred greeted very properly, prompting Dick to peer past Bruce's shoulder to take a peek. "You must be chilled, let's get you covered up shall we?" Alfred said wrapping the blanket draped across his arm around Dick's shoulders.

"Thank you Alfred," Bruce said and realised he was thanking the older man for more than just the blanket. This evening had been a revelation not just because of Dick but for the first time, Bruce could appreciate what Alfred had felt that night when he was brought home after his parents' murder. The man was probably experiencing a sense of _deja vu_.

Their eyes touched and Alfred acknowledged the thanks with a little nod he got back to the business at hand. "Master Bruce, I've prepared a room Master Dick," he said turning on his heels and leading the way up the manor steps. "I thought it prudent that it be situated close to your room, just in case."

The boy wasn't going to sleep well tonight; that was a given. Even if he did, Alfred didn't imagine it would be a restful sleep. The boy had seen his parents die and that image was going to plague him as merciless in slumber as it would in his waking hours. Certainly that was how it had been for Bruce and it had been worse for Bruce who was convinced the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne was his fault. It had taken Alfred weeks to coax that information out of him and the butler doubted he had ever really managed to convince Bruce that it wasn't the truth.

Little was said as they took Dick upstairs. The child had cried himself out and now was simply exhausted. Like all the rooms at Wayne Manor, this one was similarly large and opulent. It contained a four poster bed and the accompanying pieces of furniture that sat on an expensive Persian rug, surrounded by pieces of artwork that should be in a museum. The adjoining ensuite came with brass fittings and expensive marble tiles.

_Too extravagant for a child_, Bruce thought and felt a wave of embarrassment at having to place Dick there because this kind of luxury seemed vulgar in the face of what he lost.

Alfred had warmed the room and drawn the covers, dimming the lights to make it look less foreboding. The old butler stood back and let Bruce deal with his young charge, watching in silent contemplation.

Bruce lay Dick against the sheets and drew the covers over him. Dick rolled over, back facing his new benefactor, curled up in a little ball. The boy wanted to shut the world out for awhile and deal with his pain, Bruce could relate.

"I'll have Alfred bring you some cocoa," Bruce offered. "He makes it pretty good." Bruce knew this from experience. "Are you hungry?"

Dick shook his head in response.

"Alright," Bruce said taking the hint that he ought to leave the boy alone for now. "If you need anything, I'm just down the hall."

Another slight nod followed.

Bruce sighed and left the room, not knowing what else to do.

"He says he's not hungry," Bruce told Alfred after he shut the door behind him and drew away from the room.

"I'll fix him something light anyway," Alfred replied not to be deterred. "Young boys are often hungrier than they think."

They walked a few more feet with Bruce saying nothing, deep in thought and unaware that Alfred was observing him closely. For the first time in years, Alfred realised Bruce had no idea where to go next. It was obvious to the old butler why Bruce had brought Dick home. However, Bruce was not one to act purely on instinct. He'd become slave to his logic and his control over the years and while there were glimmers of humanity in his interactions with Miss Diana, Mr. Kent and Miss Lane, he had never been as wholly human as he'd been with Chloe Sullivan. Now Bruce had brought this boy home who didn't need a Batman to help him but someone who had understood his pain on an intimate level.

"Master Bruce," Alfred finally broke the silence, "what do you intend by this?"

"I don't know," Bruce answered honestly, trying to make sense of the action he had taken tonight. "I saw him up there, looking at them, seeing them dead and I knew I had to take him away from all that, I had to protect him."

"Protect him, Master Bruce?" Alfred eyed him. "Protect him from what?"

"From what comes next. He doesn't have anyone else Alfred," Bruce declared, like he was trying to convince not just Alfred but himself. "He's alone. I couldn't stand the thought of him going to foster care. I just wanted to take him away...to make it easier for him...somehow."

"Master Bruce," Alfred said kindly, "you know better than anyone that _nothing _can make it easier."

"I know," Bruce answered with a sigh before continuing "but there was so much rage in me for so long. It was unfocussed and feeding on itself if I didn't do something about it. I couldn't breathe for how angry I was. That kind of anger can take you to dark places Alfred. I know because I've been there. I don't want that for him. What I went through, there has to be some reason for all that pain, something more than just me being Batman. If there's chance I can make it better for him, I have to try."

The only thing that Grace disliked more than the city was the country.

Her nose curled with the stench of what she was certain was an animal by-product of some kind. _Probably dung_, she thought. The country air reeked of it and despite her best efforts to keep the windows on her car up, the pervasive odour filtered through her vehicle and was probably stuck to her clothes now. It was a scent she abhorred, one that screamed the natural world, raw and unprocessed, not to mention lacking design or purpose. In a word; _undisciplined_.

The country crystalized the worst aspect of the Earth; its lack of order.

Not like home with its machinery perfection. Every creature apart of a grand plan, a perfect engine of purpose, working to a common goal. There was no indecision, no scattershot thinking, just a singular understanding of one's place in the order of things. No one in her world questioned their existence. No one was presumptuous enough to dare. God was in their midst and he had only one expectation of them that could not be doubted.

Obedience.

After she'd been given the order by Godfrey that Granny's best would be arriving soon to take charge of the search, she chosen to track the signal back to its source. Grace had driven out of Metropolis, using technology far beyond Earth's primitive capabilities to lead her to her Kryptonian prize. If she could locate it first, then perhaps she could tell Godfrey that they didn't need the Swan to track the ship. Granny's Furies were not trained to be subtle and Grace couldn't see any outcome where they could do so without alerting the Kryptonian.

The signal led her Lowell County and Smallville, the name given to the rural backwater located in the heart of the area the ship had purportedly come down. Surrounded by cornfields, farmers and dung, Grace supposed that there were worse places on Earth that the ship could have elected to land. However, she wished it was not so populated. Thanks to her monitoring of the police band, Grace was able to pinpoint the exact location of the craft's descent. Unfortunately the method by which she had come by this information ensured her that other parties would surely be involved to complicate the situation.

As it stood, the ship had been seen by numerous people as it flew across Lowell County. Enough so that the police and appropriate emergency services had been alerted by terrified phone calls were now mobilised to act. Reports from the public and eye witness sightings had given the authorities enough information to follow the ship to its crash site. Thus were soon approaching the ship with enough fanfare to ensure the presence of locals so that when she reached Miller's Field, there was a decent sized crowd in attendance.

She parked her SUV at the top of a hill frames by more damn corn, to ensure she could observe what was happening without being seen herself. Her mission on Earth required she remained unseen as there was a grander scheme at play. Its success demanded the maintenance of that secret. Her anonymity that would almost certain be destroyed if Granny's Furies weren't given a specific target to hunt.

She was also mindful of the possibility that this commotion might bring the Kryptonian. After all, this was a ship from his destroyed home world. Why wouldn't he investigate? The same signal that had brought the craft to her attention would have surely reached him. It puzzled Grace why he hadn't appeared to claim it? Brainiac had stated that the ship held something of vital importance to her master and the Kryptonian had destroyed the ancient AI, possibly because he knew what it was. If so, then where was he?

Grace frowned as she saw a new set of vehicles appear and these were definitely not attached to the local authorities. One of the large, semi-trailers was emblazoned with a logo she knew all well from her association with Braniac. LexCorp. Of course, she'd known it when the company was called LuthorCorp and Brainiac had been impersonating Lionel Luthor who he'd murdered five years before. Since the destruction of the Construct, the son had been released from prison and had systematically began the process of reclaiming the company, beginning with its new self-aggrandizing moniker.

Once LexCorp personnel had arrived, she noted the slow departure of the local authorities. Men in dark suits and stern faces took the place of the cops from the sheriff's department and began ushering away the gawkers. In less than an hour after the arrival of Luthor and his wife, there was no longer anyone in Miller's Field who didn't have a right to be. Whatever they intended, LexCorp had no attention of tolerating an audience doing it.

_Damn_, she cursed.

She was too late. Even as she watched them, she knew that they were going to move the ship and hide it somewhere she'd most likely never have access to, not without the help of the Furies. Any chance of subtlety being employed would be gone. The Furies would lay waste to everything to achieve their goals and their methods meant a lot of collateral damage. Her suspicion was confirmed when she saw the heavy machinery roll onto the scene. Realising that time was not on her side, Grace conceded to the fact that she had to contact Godfrey and tell them that they needed the Furies _now_.

Less than an hour later, in the middle of the empty field not far away from Miller's Field and certainly out of sight of any other living soul in the vicinity, Grace waited for the arrival of her master's elite warrior force. She did not have to do so for long. Once she had transmitted her location, she knew that it would be a short time before they arrived. She'd sought out the most remote location she could find to transmit and now sat on the hood of her car among the stalks of corn, bracing herself.

She could tell immediately when the portal began to form. The air became charged with electricity. She could almost smell the heavy, burning smell that preceded the lightshow that would bridge two worlds. The explosion was loud enough to flatten all the vegetation around it. Heat and concussive force had cleared the land in a second and out of the rippling circle of energy hanging in mid air, stepped three figures shrouded in the radiating light of the wormhole. Even from minimum safe distance, Grace could tell who Granny had sent.

The first, a tall, statuesque woman covered almost head to toe in a duraskin bodysuit armoured in all the appropriate places, was Lashina. She wore a helmet that allowed only her eyes to be seen. Clinging to her belt were the weapons that had earned Lashina her name. Lash, as she was called, was known to Grace was the field leader who had commanded hundreds of mission for Granny and Darkseid. It was rumoured that she'd died once but Darkseid had seen such her value in her that she was regenerated. Such was the power of Darkseid.

The second was not so valued but tolerated and Grace shuddered seeing Mad Harriet stepping through the portal behind Lash. Harriet was deranged and a loose cannon but she was such an agent of chaos that it was difficult to argue with her results. Still there were occasions when only Granny's entreaty kept Darkseid from obliterating her to the solar winds for her insolence. Slightly bowed in her posture, her head seemed too small for her wide eyes and with her wild, red hair flowing in the night air, she did appear a little _mad_. Especially when she wore gauntlets that held razor sharp blades on every digit, looking like a Freddy Krueger clone.

The last of the Furies to be sent on this mission was one Grace knew only be reputation. The Swan was easily the most powerful of the three. She was a dazzling beauty that always seemed out of place among the harsh, cruel world of Granny's Orphanage. Flowing golden hair, flawless peachy skin and intense blue eyes, she stood head to head with Lash in height. Her costume was cut to accentuate her figure, even down to the wings that were attached to her back to give her flight.

Grace wondered if the Swan remembered that she was once human.

Once the portal had closed behind them, she jumped off the hood of the car and approached them. "In the name of Darkseid, I welcome you Lashina, Mad Harriet and Silver Swan," Grace greeted, head bowed in the repose of the supplicant.

"Amazing Grace," Lashina acknowledged the greeting. "You look well."

"You mean _soft_," Harriet tittered derisively. " You look so pretty. Tell me, do you present to the humans with a bow tied around your waist?"

"Shut up Harriet," Lash warned, not about to tolerate Harriet's prattle since Grace was their guide on Earth. "Where is the ship now?"

"Its being moved as we speak," Grace replied, "its not far from here."

"Then we should proceed quickly," Lash declared, "In which direction?"

"Over the hill," Grace indicated westward and then added, "Please remember there are plans afoot for this planet that is still in progress. Darkseid will not be impressed if we're exposed to the humans far sooner than we should be."

"I have been made aware of this planet's importance," Lash retorted, a little offended at the implication that she did not know how crucial Earth was to Darkseid's agenda. "Swan. A quick reconnaissance if you will..."

The Swan did not respond. She was staring at the cornfields, suddenly revisited by nagging little sensations she couldn't quite discern. They were like flies buzzing around her face, she couldn't get rid of.

"Swan!" Lash snapped again and Harriet tittered that maddening laugh.

"Yes, I _heard_ you," the Swan's head lifted sharply and retorted coldly, "Recon. I heard."

With that, her wings extended outward and with a single powerful flap and she was in the air, searching for the ship in this place that felt so familiar.

Almost like she'd been here.


	6. Chapter 6

Authors Note: Slight homage to Man of Steel here.

**CHAPTER SIX: AWAKENING**

_The heart of Krypton is not in my chest,_

_It is not found the molten core of the world,_

_It does not beat in the way of flesh or matter_

_It pulses with a life of its own_

_It is the brightest star in the sky_

_We look up every day and give little mind_

_To its importance and its beauty_

_We know it as a thing that simply exists_

_We forget how much it gives to us_

_It is life, it is breathe it is all we will ever be_

_We are all its children, this forgotten mother_

_Forgive us errant children that we are_

_Give praise to the great heart of Krypton_

_Give praise to Rao!_

She was lying against her mother's shoulder, listening Alura reciting _The Heart of Krypton,_ written by one of her favourite poets, Nor-E. Kara remembered falling to the sound of her voice, always smooth like silk breathing against her skin. Her mother would hold the data reader with one hand, while the other would stroke Kara's blond hair. Her father would be at his desk, as always, contemplating new ways to sustain Kandor. Even though he seemed distracted with his work, Kara knew he listened. Sometimes, he glance up from his work station and brushed the two of them with a little smile.

In the days after Krypton had been destroyed; when a piece of her had hurtled into space, held together with Zor-El's genius, they would spend most evenings here, enjoying the time they had had together, aware that it could disappear at any more. Her father never showed it but Kara knew he often worried about how Kandor would survive, that the force field in which he had build around the city and the city power network which he had devised into a makeshift propulsion system would fail.

He never showed them his concern but Kara knew it was there. Just as he was certain that her mother knew it and said nothing because it was important to her that he held the belief that they were oblivious how much their existence was balanced on a knife's edge. Kara cherished these evenings together because every surviving Kandorian child knew that they were all that was left of Krypton.

It was no surprise to Kara that she should find herself here in the dreamscape, with her mother's sweet voice in her ears, lulling her back to a gentler sleep while her father worked at his desk. His fingers moved across the console as he transcribed some new equation or algorithm design to increase the power of their reactor core, into the recording crystal. Each digit moving with a kind of grace, possessing tapered elegance. She could hear them as he made contact with the workstation keyboard.

Then without warning, the tactile dance suddenly boomed in her ear so loudly that she sat up straight , flinching at the disturbance. It was so loud! Alura turned to her to ask her what was wrong and it seemed that she was shouting at Kara, in a voice that seemed to shake the walls of the house. Kara's hand flews to her ears, trying to drone out her mother's demands to know what was wrong. Her father had stood up, pushing back on his chair. It scrapped across the floor so loudly, it felt as if someone had put a rip in the world. He was also calling her, asking her what was wrong. His footsteps towards her were like the pounding of drums until Kara couldn't look at him.

The sound was coming from everywhere! She could hear their breathing, could hear the sluggish currents of circulated air, the drone of machinery beneath her and the chatter of her friends. She couldn't make it stop! The noise grew until they clashed against each other, until she did not know one began and another ended. It was like she was trapped in a wind tunnel, with sound rushing all over her, dragging her into its depths of cacophony.

Kara screamed.

She woke up sweaty, her hands clutching her ears, trying to shut out the sounds clashing against her ear drums. The chaos had followed her out of her dreams and into the waking world. It felt like a dagger driving deeper into her brain, until she couldn't hear herself crying out. Nor could she remember where she was? What was this strange place? Where was her mother and father! Kara thought frantically. Everything about her look alien? Not at all like her room in Kandor. These thoughts raced through her mind briefly before the sound found her again and all was forgotten as she clutched her head screaming it to stop.

Kara did not notice the door bursting open only that it caused more noise. She recognised Jor-El rushing in, worry on his face. No, she thought fleetingly, not Uncle Jor, it was Kal. Her baby cousin Kal who wasn't a baby anymore. He paused and she stared at him, imploring for help when suddenly his skin was stripped away from his flesh, then the strips of muscle, one by one until she could see his heart pounding, could see the saliva moving down his throat and the blood pumping in his veins. But that too was soon gone and he was talking to her, his mouth was moving but all she could see was a skull trying to speak.

Kara recoil in fright, another terrified scream followed.

"Kara!" Clark came towards at her, shocked by the wide eyed terror he saw in her eyes.

"Get away from me!" She screamed, turning away from him, unable to bear looking at him. She pressed her body against the bed head, holding her ears while burying her face in her shoulder, trying to shield the world.

"Kara, let me help you," Clark said reaching for her.

"STOP SHOUTING!" Kara pleaded, her eyes clamped shut. "Its hurting my ears! I can...can..hear everything! And that's something wrong with you! You're all blood and bone...!"

At that Clark understood. Well that's that then, he thought as it put to rest their earlier debate about how soon Kara's powers would manifest themselves. He'd hope they'd be gradual as it had been for him but he had years to live on Earth while Kara had been here for less than a day. He'd seen other Kryptonians manage their powers but none of them was as young as she was.

"Kara, listen to me." Clark tried to speak. "Its perfectly normal. You just need to adjust, to learn how to control your powers."

When Martha and Lois entered the room, Kara turned instinctively to them and was once again assaulted with the same sensory overload. Their footsteps pounded like thunderclaps, their breath sounded like the harsh winds of a storm and when she looked to them, she saw that same grisly scene of blood and flesh. She could see their skulls and eye balls cradled in sockets and sluggish movements of digestive juices in their stomachs. It was horrible! She couldn't bear it! Turning away from them, Kara kept her eyes closed tight, not wanting to see any of it and sobbing for it to stop.

"What's wrong with her?" Lois demanded, wanting desperately to help but having no idea how to.

"Its her powers," Clark explained hastily, trying to reach for Kara only to have the girl shrink away in fear. "Her enhanced hearing and x-ray vision has kicked in. Its all coming in."

"How did you deal with it?" Lois asked, unable to bear seeing the girl so distraught.

"It didn't happen like this!" Clark exclaimed, remembering that both powers had appeared at different times and they were sporadic bursts until Clark was able to get a handle on them.

"HUSH!" Martha ordered sharply, pushing her way to the front now that she understood the nature of the problem . It was amazing how much of raising Clark came back to her. Decades later and she was now faced with another child needing her help, another child who had found them as Clark had found her and Jonathan. In some ways, it was easier with Clark, he had no memory of his parents while Kara had too many.

Conditioned to obey her without question; both Clark and Lois withdrew to give Martha room as she took charge of things. Despite his desire to help Kara because he was convinced this was something he'd be able to understand like no one else, Clark couldn't help but submit to Martha's demand as she sat next to Kara on her bed. He remembered doing the same thing when he was a little boy, afraid of something he'd been able to do that he didn't understand. Martha always had the ability to make almost anything terrible seem slight.

Clark pulled back to Lois who wrapped an arm around his waist and gave him a little wink to tell him that everything was going to be okay because sometimes, even the Man of Steel needed assurance. Being on the end of Martha Kent's mothering, Lois knew just how much of a salve it could be.

Martha slid further up the mattress so she could reach Kara. The young girl was still trying to shut out the deafening sounds in her ears and the unsettling images of those around her. Martha reached out to Kara, cupping the young girl's face in her hand and speaking in a soft whisper.

"Kara," Martha said softly. "Listen to me. Listen to _my_ voice. You're going to be okay. We're going to take care of you. Don't think of anything else, don't listen to anything else, just concentrate on hearing me, on hearing _my_ voice." She spoke in the same soft tones, she used when reading Clark a bed time story. "Listen to my voice, sweetheart. Its going to be okay, we're going to help you through this. You're not alone."

Kara's trembling hand reached Martha's own and nodded.

"I'm...trying..." she stuttered and the proof was in her furrowed brow as she tried to do as instructed.

"That's a good girl," Martha continued to speak holding her hand and stroking her hair as she spoke. "Keeping focussing on my voice, Kara. You are a part of our family now and we're going to take care of you. Clark...Kal, Lois and me, we're all here for you. You're not alone on Earth and you don't have to face all this by yourself. The outside world is where it is, _outside_. Listen to what I'm saying. You're safe honey, I promise you, you're safe."

Kara concentrated, listening to the voice that sounded so kind and so much like her mother it almost hurt. She was afraid because the noise seemed so immense but she so wanted to believe the promises of Martha Kent. It made her try harder to concentrate to repay the kindness of the older woman's words. She forced everything else away except the words that told her she was safe even if Kandor was gone. She _still_ had family and they would help her. She focused on Martha's words and in that moment of concentration, realised that if she paid mind to just _one_ thing, the rest seemed to recede.

Martha's voice revealed that truth to her.

Clark and Lois held their breath in silence, waiting to see if Martha's advice had worked. Clark wanted to hug his mother and tell her she was the greatest mom there ever was just by how she was handling Kara. A few more minutes passed before Kara finally responded. Her eyes were still clamped shut but she seemed less agitated.

"I can hear you," she said softly. "I...can hear just you."

"I'm glad honey," Martha said with a smile and hugged her. Without speaking, Martha gestured Clark forward.

"Kara," Clark approached on his mother's request, keeping his voice was low so he didn't derail Martha's efforts by placing too much on Kara's concentration too soon. "Open your eyes slowly but don't stare. Just pretend you were just glancing at something. Do the exact opposite of what my mom just told you, _don't_ focus."

It was easier this time, Kara realise. Once she understood the more she tried to out all the images, the more of it appeared. So she stopped trying to see and in doing so, the layers of flesh began to grow over; one by one until she was staring at Kal-El, his mother and his mate. Their faces intact and removed from the grisly visage of blood, tissue and flesh.

"I can see you," she exclaimed with gratitude. "I can see you all."

"Of course, you can honey," Martha smiled brushing a strand of blond hair out of her face. "I knew you would."

And without another word, Kara enveloped her in a hug and clung to Martha, whispering in her ear.

"Thank you," she said softly in the older woman's ear. "Thank you."

There was an angel at her window.

She'd never seen an angel before but she'd seen pictures and sometimes, when Mommy took her to church at Christmas time, she'd seen statues. She saw the beautiful angel floating outside her window. Climbing out of bed, she padded across the polished wooden floor silent, careful to avoid kicking the toys she'd left on the floor, certain that mommy and daddy would hear. Rubbing her eyes, she walked towards the window and tilted her head, staring at the sight beyond the glass.

Eyes widening, Laura stared at the angel floating outside her window, high above the cobblestone pave outside the house. The angel had hair so golden that it seemed almost white as it flowed in the night's breeze. She was dressed in white, like an angel be dressed with her wings spread out behind her, flapping with feathers as snow white as a doves. The angel smiled at her and drifted towards the window, placing her hands on the glass.

Laura opened the window without once considering it could be wrong because mommy said angels came from God. Daddy was oddly silent on the subject.

"Hello there little one," the angel greeted, fluttering closer to her at the window's edge. There was a smile on her lips that Laura could know was triumphant. "What's your name?"

"Laura." She replied somewhat puzzled, wondering how come the angel didn't know her name. Weren't they supposed to know all little children's names, so they could know which prayers to answer.

"Well isn't that a pretty name Laura," the angel answered. "My name is Swan."

In another room, Lex woke up.

Five years in prison had made him a light sleeper and his senses were now attuned for the slightest sound. When one was a billionaire locked up for murder, it was easy for the other inmates to believe he was easy prey. Lex had soon taught them that he was anything but weak however, the lesson still had to be taught to a few in the first few months of his incarceration. All of this had left Lex's ability to sleep deeply forever impaired.

In any case, Lex's inability to sleep tonight had little do with his imprisonment. It had to do with the alien ship that he and Lana had retrieved from Miller's Field. LexCorp technicians had spirited it away to a secure warehouse so that it could be studied in a control environment, as it should have been done before Dr. Groll flagrantly disregarded his orders and caused the incident that left many dead. There was no doubt in his mind that the craft had brought someone here and that Milton Fine had done everything he could to possess it.

In retrospect, his earlier assertion that this was Fine's ship needed redefinition. The logic of the situation didn't seem to hold water. Fine had the ship in his possession for years, in fact it was his sole purpose for killing Lionel and framing Lex for his murder so he could take charge of LuthorCorp. No, the ship did not belong to Fine but that conclusion bore only more questions. Where was the ship's occupant? Who was in there? Another alien threat like the ones he and Lana encountered the day of the second meteor storm?

All this was in his head when he heard something moving out side his door.

Lex was wide awake and he pushed himself onto his elbow in a second, peering over the bed head. Lana was still asleep, her dark hair covering her face until she rolled over to her other side at his sudden shift. Without wasting any time, Lex leaned over to his bedside table to retrieve the gun he had tucked in the first drawer. The gun was empty, the bullets still in their box. With a child in the house, he had to be careful.

He never had the chance to load it.

The door swung open so fast that Lex barely had time to get the shells out of the box when something stung the back of his hand with such sharp, intense pain that he dropped the weapon, causing it to clatter against the floor loudly. Lana sat upright with a start, her eyes opening just in time to register the whip that had done it. The woman holding the whip was standing at the doorway to their bedroom like an extreme version of Doris the Dominatrix. If such a thing was possible.

_Laura! Where was Laura!_ Lana thought frantically and was about to jump out of bed when something leapt at her and landed it full weight against her chest, driving the air from her lungs and forcing her back against the mattress once more.

"LANA!" Lex screamed, overcoming his pain to reach for the woman who had pounced on Lana like an animal when suddenly the assailant stuck out her arm, forcing him to stop immediately when he felt the sharp blade of her gauntlets pressed against his throat.

"Naughty, naughty," she wagged a finger at him. "Mad Harriet's says you don't get to move until she says so." She ended the warning with a thither that became giggles.

"Get off me!" Lana growled, fully prepared to retaliate until she felt the blades of Mad Harriet's other gauntlet dig into her chest.

"Behave, sweetie." She warned, "don't make me cut up that pretty, pretty face. Maybe give you a new smile. Nice and wide...!

"STOP!" Lex demanded, not prepared to risk her life or that of his child under _any_ circumstances. He knew that the security personnel on the estate were either compromised or unaware of their predicament yet. LexCorp had an external security team that was probably speeding towards the mansion now so he had to play for time. _Negotiate_.

"Don't hurt her," he begged and then asked, "What is it you want?"

He met Lana's gaze, trying to assure that they were okay, that he would get them out of this even if right now, he was choking on impotent fury. Battling his anger with the rationale that these people obviously wanted something or else he and Lana would be dead already, he maintained his calm and prayed they hadn't gone to Laura's room.

"Where is the occupant of the ship?"

Lex turned his attention to the woman in the bizarre costume of full bodied leather, who stared at him and spoke with words exuding cold ruthlessness.

_The ship_. This was about the ship. Lex blinked slowly, inwardly cursing himself because he should have known. Hadn't he gone through this already, with the Black Ship? Were these women the same as those aliens who had threatened Lana and him when they had first encountered it all those years ago. In the milliseconds that he had to answer, he considered his options. These intruders confirmed his suspicion that this wasn't Fine's ship, that someone else had emerged from that ship, not the missing Fine.

"I don't know," Lex answered hastily, giving the truth for the moment because if he lied, they would call his bluff and he wasn't gambling with Lana and Laura's life in the balance.

"Wrong answer," Mad Harriet sneered and without any warning, drove one of the blades of her gauntlet into Lana's shoulder.

Lana's scream was so sharp and sudden, it ripped through all of Lex's rational thought and defences. It seem to last forever, almost eternity as he fought back the urge to attack but was halted by the blades against his neck once more.

"Goddamn it!" He swore in fury instead. "I'm telling you the truth! The ship was empty when we found it!"

He looked at Lana writhing helplessly against the blade that was buried to the hilt in her shoulder. The crazy bitch's gauntlet was pressed against Lana's bloody skin and she was taking great pleasure in every ounce of pain etched across his wife's face. He had no doubt that it had penetrated all the way to the mattress. Lana was shuddering in pain, trying not to cry out again but Mad Harriet had other plans and twisted the blade unexpectedly, eliciting another sharp scream...

...that made Clark Kent's spine stiffen ramrod straight all the way at the Kent Farm.

For all of Jor-El's training, there were _some _things that Clark still no control over. Lana may have been a face in his past but Clark could never ignore that for most of his youth, he'd _loved _her. Even though Lois was the love of his life now and of that he had no doubt, Clark could never forget that Lana had been the _first._ She had been the girl next door, the one that inspired so much passion until life had made him understand that while they might have been in love, they were never meant to last.

Clark had made peace with that the first time he kissed Lois and saw the irascible pain in the ass that she was, had evolved into something unexpected. Something that was never as hard and complicated as his love for Lana. Clark and Lois' relationship was never plagued with the turbulence that so crippled the one with Lana. However, even if he and Lana were now friends, her hold on him was still strong and she would remain one of the few people in his life to which he was always attuned.

When she screamed, it penetrated the veil of night and the distance between Lowell County, between the Mansion and the Kent farm, to reach his ears. He was in the middle of returning to bed with Lois when he heard it. It cut through the drone of background noise, he had trained himself to ignore the way he had just instructed Kara too. It made him stop short because he recognised it immediately.

"Clark what is it?" Lois demanded when she saw the sudden change in his expression and knew something dire had just happened. Since he assumed the persona of Superman, Lois knew that his hearing was focussed to pick up danger but it had taken practice to determine what needed the intervention from the Man of Steel. She could tell when he was about to fly off to answer some random call of distress but rarely had she see him affected so personally.

"I have to go," he declare and took off so quickly that Lois barely had time to blink or get any other details before the abrupt gust of wind from his rapid departure blew across her and she was alone in the hallway.

By the time Clark took to the skies, he was already wearing the costume and he couldn't deny feeling some strangeness in approaching the Luthor Mansion by air. For years, he'd become accustomed to dropping in on Lex when they'd been friends and a part of him still missed that friendship. He knew he'd recaptured something like it in his relationship with Bruce but as one got older, it was easy to see things clearly and Clark knew he'd failed Lex Luthor.

_You should have trusted me. _

That was what Lex had said to him in that prison when he confronted Lex after coming out as Superman, before Brainiac had erased Krypton and him out of Lex's memory. In his youth, he'd been too frightened to believe that Lex would have his best interests in mind if his secret was revealed. However, after Lex's memory had been erased Clark wondered that if he had satisfied Lex's questions about the strange occurrences that always seemed to take place around them, perhaps the man would not have formed his own conclusions and be led down the dark park that almost destroyed him.

It was too late now, Clark decided as he saw the Luthor Mansion in sight and immediately scanned the house to locate Lana. It did not occur to him to be concerned that he didn't see Laura.

"The ship was in your possession for years!" Lashina hissed, tightening her whip around Lex's neck. "Are you telling me that it suddenly took flight and you have no idea who was in it?"

"The ship was in Milton Fine's possession and he didn't tell anyone where it was" Lex growled, trying to speak through the leather pressing against his throat. "We only located it today!"

"I think he's lying." Mad Harriet sneered and twisted the blade again, drawing another sharp cry from Lana.

"STOP IT!" Lex begged, becoming more desperate. "She doesn't know anything!"

Suddenly, a streak of red and blue moved through the room so quickly that Lex thought he'd imagined it until it paused next to Harriet.

"Get off her!" Superman's deep voice demanded and swatted the woman aside like she was nothing.

Mad Harriet uttered a banshee's screech of outrage as she was flung across the room. The sudden removal of the deep blade from Lana's shoulder made her cry out but at least the wretched thing was gone.

"This has nothing to do with you Kryptonian!" Lashina hissed.

"Terrorizing innocent people makes it my business," Clark retorted and with a blast of heat vision, severed the lash around Lex's throat in half.

Lex pulled away immediately and reacted with a roadhouse swing against Lashina that threw the woman off him.

Mad Harriet got quickly to her feet and prepared to pounce but Clark exhaled deeply and put her down with a puff of breath. She screamed in fury as she landed hard.

Lex wasted no time in hurrying over to Lana, trying to staunch the blood that was flowing freely now that Harriet's blade had been extracted.

"Oh God...it hurts," she gasped.

"Its going to be okay," Lex took her hand, crushing it in his before kissing her on the forehead. "I'm going to get you help."

Meanwhile Clark turned to the two intruders, "who are you? What do you want here?" He could tell from the look of them that neither were human, even without having to run his x-ray vision over them.

From the window, Clark heard something fluttering and he turned to the window to see Laura, in the arms of a woman, a woman with snow white wings and golden hair.

"LAURA!" Lana shouted, seeing the child squirming in the woman's arms.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Laura cried out, reaching out hands towards them.

Lex staggered to the window to retrieve his daughter but the Swan moved effortlessly out of reach. "Don't be afraid Starbuck! You're going to be okay!"

"This does not concern you Kryptonian," Lashina declared triumphantly from behind Clark. "They will give us what we want or the Swan will drop their child and watch her insides split open like a ripe fruit!"

"NO!" Lana cried out terrified, "Superman...do something!"

However, Clark wasn't listening. He was staring at the woman who was holding Laura. Despite the alien clothes she was wearing and the cruel sneer, he knew her. He knew who she was and where she'd come from, where both of these women with her had also originated.

This was Valerie, _Valerie Beaudry_.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN: SWAN

It _was_ her.

Even if her eyes appeared colder whilst wearing a cruel sneer that marred her lovely features and her clothes were undoubtedly alien, to say nothing about the wings attached to her back, there was no doubt in Clark Kent's mind who he was looking at. This was Valerie. Valerie Beaudry.

As the name surfaced in his mind, it brought with it the memories of that day outside Metropolis when he and Bruce had finally confronted the mysterious entities from the DeSaad Corporation. Until then, they hadn't really grasped the full measure of the enemy they were facing. Clark had thought that DeSaad was just another greedy corporation attempting to further their own profit margin by dabbling in illegal genetics. It wasn't the first time he had encountered the like.

Lex Luthor and his Section 33.1 had a similar agenda.

However, Bruce's capture by DeSaad facilitated the opportunity for Gotham's future dark knight to investigate the company first hand and he had discovered DeSaad was a front for alien intelligence with designs on a Kryptonian. It made perfects sense in retrospect. During that period, Clark had been at his most vulnerable. It was his first introduction to blue kryptonite which he learned was capable of stripping him of all his powers.

Clark had been fully prepared to live the life of a normal human; with Bruce teaching him how to defend himself without powers just to survive. Both he and Bruce had almost died during that business and it was sobering to remember that it was neither of them that brought DeSaad to its knees but rather Valerie Beaudry's sacrifice. Valerie had surrendered herself to DeSaad in an effort to save her friends and when that was not enough, had used her powerful siren scream to level DeSaad's complex to the ground.

Yet despite all that, Clark and Bruce had failed to save her.

The last time they'd seen Valerie, the alien calling himself Michael Canto had snatched Valerie and forced her into a portal leading back to his own world. There had been no time to stop, no time to reach her before they both gone. Once she had disappeared through the portal, Valerie was beyond them.

It had haunted both of them, that they'd been unable to save her. More so because they had no idea awaited her in that alien world.

_Now_ they knew.

"Valerie," Clark used her name, hoping that it might jog her memory, remind her that they had once been friends and perhaps convince her to release Laura. The little girl was squirming in Valerie's grip, suspended the air much to the terror of both parents.

"Starbuck, it will be okay," Lex spoke to his daughter. He had grabbed Lashina's whip and had it garrotted around the woman's throat, tightening it hard enough for her to fight for breath. "Do something!" He hissed at Clark.

Clark frowned, wondering what Lex thought he was doing. In the corner of his eyes, he saw that Mad Harriet was still unconscious and he turned back to Valerie, hoping that he did not have to fight her. He hoped she could see reason because he did not know if he could attack the woman without her harming Laura or for that matter, Lex and Lana. Clark had seen firsthand what that sonic scream could do and if she unleashed it in these close confines, Lex and Lana would be as good as dead.

"Valerie," Clark repeated himself, "Valerie Beaudry."

The Swan blinked in confusion. The name, the name sounded familiar. Uncertainty took the place of cruelty and her grip on the child slackened a little. Why did it sound so familiar?

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Lashina demanded, forcing the words out through her constricted throat. "Kill him!"

"Shut up!" Lex snapped, slamming her skull against the floor. It made an ugly crack and Lashina went slack in his grip.

While he abhorred the method, Clark was grateful for the silence. He needed to reach out to Valerie without her companions sabotaging his efforts.

"Valerie, don't do this," Clark implored again. "Don't hurt her. She's a little girl, innocent and helpless like you once were!"

The Swan stared at the Kryptonian, speaking to her as if they were old friends not the enemy. She recognised the symbol that he wore, the Kryptonian shield that was his family's crest. She knew all this because the data had been made available before she came to Earth. However, as she looked at him now, there was something else, the memory that beneath the costume, there was something else, something that seemed so familiar and yet maddeningly beyond her grasp. Valerie. He called her Valerie.

_Valerie_...it floated about in front of her, defying her to remember.

Clark saw her grip on Laura loosening further and made a quick decision. He had unbalanced her and the opening that presented itself would not remain for long. Aware of just how much damage she was capable of wreaking, Clark knew his options were limited. The priority here had to be Laura and her parents.

Speeding forward, Clark snatched Laura out of her hand and in a blink of an eye had circled back to grab Lex and Lana as well. If Valerie unleashed her powers, they would not survive it.

The loss of the child in her arms snapped ended the Swan's momentary lapse. By the time she was aware of what had happened, the Kryptonian had ferried the family out of the house

"NO!" She screamed in outrage and immediately flapped her wings to propel her forward in pursuit. However his speed was too much for her and she saw him moving across the sky in dark silhouette, quickly disappearing into the distance. Fury bubbled up inside her and she let out her deadly scream.

It escaped her like a sonic A-bomb, flattening the cornstalks in the field, sending machinery flying through the air, snapping power poles like dominos falling. Kansas was accustomed to its twisters and this was no less savage as it moved across the landscape, destroying everything in its path until exhausted.

Despite his speed, Clark caught the end edge of the sonic wave. It flung him forward like a leaf caught in a hurricane. With one arm wrapped around both Lana and her daughter, Clark's other arm kept Lex pinned against him. It was neither comfortable nor dignified but when they were hit by the sonic blast, it was all Clark could do to maintain his grip of them. The roar of wind competed with Laura's high pitch scream of terror, along with Lana's calls to her child, filled his ears. He could hear Lex's anger as he tried to reach his wife and his frustration when he couldn't.

It took Clarks a few seconds to regain control of his flight before he was able to whisk them all to the Smallville Medical Centre. Descending in the middle of the parking lot, his arrival even at this time of night, generated excitement. Clark had hoped to not be too disruptive but supposed that had been a futile hope when he saw the few staff and patients outside, catching a smoke, crying out 'Hey its Superman!' to anyone who hadn't yet seen him. An ambulance came to a screeching halt when the paramedic driving caught sight of Superman and the three people with him.

_So much for a discreet arrival_, Clark sighed.

Laura noticed none of this when Clark finally let her go. Already terrified by what had happened tonight, the little girl's first action upon touching the ground was to squeal for her mother.

"Mommy!" She wailed and threw her arms around Lana, who hissed in pain at the pressure against her still raw wound.

Pain was the last thing on Lana's mind as she bundled her daughter up in her arms and hugged her tight, grateful that Laura had been unhurt by their intruders. Tears of gratitude ran down her cheeks as Laura whimpered in her embrace. Glancing up as she held Laura, Lana's gaze met Clark's long enough to give him silent thanks for coming to her family's rescue. Even after all these years, Clark Kent was still coming to save her. She'd always love for him that.

Clark nodded at her with a little smile before he withdrew slightly when Lex came forward; dropping to his knees as he wrapped his arms around Lana and kissed his daughter's forehead. To him, Superman was a stranger and a possible threat but his animosity towards the man of steel evaporated for the moment. Right now, he was grateful for his family.

"Thank you," Lex said with genuine emotion.

"Do you know what they wanted?" Clark asked, suspecting he probably wouldn't get a straight answer out of Lex but needed to understand why Valerie and her companions had come after the Luthors. As far as he knew, DeSaad had been interested in mutated DNA. Lex's amoral proclivities aside, there should have been nothing about him that warranted the interest.

Hiding his reaction to the question, Lex thought quickly, as he was not about to give Superman the truth under any circumstances. When he had concocted an answer, he replied coolly, "they wanted the whereabouts of an experimental stealth fighter plane that LexCorp had crashed during a test flight tonight. I didn't get a chance to answer before they attacked Lana."

"It's true," Lana added, her voice hoarse and exhausted but supporting her husband in his life nonetheless. She had promised to keep Clark's secret safe but that did not mean betraying Lex either. In all other matters, her allegiance was with her husband. "They wanted to know where the plane was."

The plane, being the _ship_, Clark concluded even if Lana was backing Lex's lie. He didn't blame her of course. He knew where he'd stood with Lana where Lex was concerned years ago. In any case, he had the answers he needed.

"I wouldn't go back to the mansion if I were you," he advised Lex for better or worse. "The woman who grabbed Laura, I've encountered her before and she's extremely dangerous. I'd find someplace to hold out for a while and I'll see what I can do to send them back where they came from."

"You said her name was Valerie," Lex reminded. "She's human?"

It was telling that Lex already knew they were aliens, however Clark was not about to debate the point.

"Once but I'm not sure anymore," he admitted sadly.

Before Lex had a chance to ask another question, Clark stepped away from the family and took the air, leaving them to their own devices while he went to deal with Valerie.

Along with Mad Harriet, Lashina had regained consciousness by the time the Swan returned to Luthor home after losing the Kryptonian and the family. She expected Lashina to be less than happy that her lapse had allowed the Kryptonian to gain the upper hand and braced herself for the verbal abuse that would be following.

"What in Darkseid's hell were you doing?" Lashina demanded tugging her own Lashina from her throat, cursing inwardly at how much of a mess their mission had become.

The Swan's usual confidence was shaken in the aftermath of the encounter and she rubbed her brow as if she could pull the answers out of her brain if she kneaded thoroughly enough. "I don't know," she started to explain somewhat feebly. "I think he knew me..."

Lashina knew enough about the Swan to be aware of her human origins. It was probably why she'd been assigned this mission. She was the first of Darkseid's Furies to come from this wretched planet and since her recruitment, proved herself to be one of the most powerful in the elite group. Granny's training should have purged all memory of her past life from her mind but no mindwipe was ever complete or full proof.

It was just plain bad luck that the Swan's first encounter on this mud ball would be with the one person who _knew_ her in that other life.

"_The pretty little swan with the broken little head..._" Mad Harriet giggled; reciting those words as she bounced on the Luthor bed like it was a trampoline. The springs creaked as she jumped against it, laughing like a giddy child in her sing song voice. "_The pretty little swan with the broken little head..._"

"Shut up!" Lashina barked at the woman, her patience fast reaching its limits but naturally Harriet wouldn't stop when she knew she was striking a nerve.

Taking out her frustration on the Swan, Lashina struck the human hard across the face to get her attention. The sharp slap was enough to make Mad Harriet stop short, staring at the two of them with her mouth agape. "Pull yourself together; we have a job to do!" Lashina snapped.

The blow had the desired effect and the Swan reacted with lightning fast reflexes, grabbing Lashina by the neck and slamming her against the bedpost, until the wood creaked and split beneath the against her body.

"Don't...do...that...again," the Swan warned icily, her face inches from Lashina.

"Then do your job Swan." Lashina returned unflustered by the action. "We need to find that ship."

As he flew back to the Luthor Mansion, Clark wondered if he ought to go after Valerie again. However, he only had to see destruction caused by her sonic scream to know that she was too dangerous to be allowed free reign of the Earth. Besides, there was no telling how much damage she and her companions were willing to cause to get the ship. Cornfields filled with destroyed crops, machinery lead the way back to the Luthor Estate. Live wires danced across dark streets from broken power and telephone lines. He imagined that half of Lowell County probably didn't have power.

Clark remembered just powerful Valerie had been the day she destroyed the DeSaad facility but then her power had been fuelled by rage. Valerie's lover Hank had used her worse than any human being could be manipulated. He'd turn the ugly duckling she was into the lovely creature she was now but it had come at the price of that terrible sonic cry. Their success with mutating Valerie had turned her into a lab experiment and when she had run home to her parents, DeSaad had murdered them.

What he was seeing now was not the result of rage. Now she had honed her skill and in doing so, had become a weapon that could tear anything apart if she wished.

He should have tried hard to find her, Clark lamented silently. _They should have done something..._

Clark knew there was nothing that could have been done. He and Bruce were too out of their depth to be able to help her. Now Valerie was back and like before, they were after something Kryptonian. He hoped it was just the ship that they wanted. Bruce had explained why Canto had been trying to add Clark to the DeSaad menagerie. Canto's master believed the key to some weird alien equation could be found in his DNA.

Later when he had begun his training at the fortress, Clark had asked Jor-El about the Anti-Life Equation. Jor-El had explained it was a myth that there was an equation was capable of unlocking the ability to control every living thing in the universe. Still if this was about the equation then why did they wanted then why the ship? They needed DNA. He would have thought they would have come after him? Unless it _wasn't_ the ship they wanted; rather its passenger. Someone who had just emerged from stasis, who was disorientated and incapable of defending themselves like he was.

Someone like _Kara_.

The realisation shook Clark to the core and the intensity of his outrage surprise even him.

True, he had only known her a day but she was _family_. Not some computer matrix left behind, not some clone or vessel but _blood_. If Krypton hadn't been destroyed, she would have been his older cousin. Kara, who was so afraid, who was just coming to grips with her own power, in the hands of someone who would exploit her was more than Clark could stand. They'd already let it happen to Valerie and he would die before allowing the same to happen to Kara.

Scanning the scene ahead, it didn't take Clark long to locate Valerie. They were still there at the Mansion, all three of them. He needed to confront her alone and somewhere secluded to minimise the destruction she might cause if he couldn't make her listen. He'd pulled her off the ledge once when she'd been ready to throw her lot in with Canto and he had convinced her. If he could reach that part of her, remind her that she had left behind friends and family, perhaps this time he could save her.

Accelerating faster than either human or alien eye could register, Clark grabbed Valerie from behind, careful to ensure that she was facing away from him before he spirited her out of the room, away from her two companions. Holding her in front of him, Clark flew straight up, so the only thing in the path of her destructive scream was the blue sky above. Her wings thrashed frantically about his face in protest as they gained altitude, leaving the mansion and the ground far beneath them both in a matter of seconds.

She writhed in his grip, trying to break free but against his strength, she had no chance of escaping. When she realised this, she began hurling curses at him, howling in impotent fury because he had rendered her helpless by using the sky as a buffer against her tremendous powers.

"LET ME GO KRYPTONIAN!" She demanded furiously, her voice drowned out by the sound of the high velocity wind rushing past them.

Clark ignored her, refusing to listen until he diffused the situation a little more. Climbing towards the stratosphere, his intent was to make her listen to reason, whether or not she wished to. With the air thinning, her ability to use her sonic scream would be limited and that might give her pause enough to listen to what he had to say. Around them, the wind created a vortex of sound as Valerie's hair whipped about her like a banner of gold. Still he could also hear her shortness of breath and knew that he had accomplished what he intended.

He could not keep her at this altitude for too long and when he allowed her to face him the pallor of her skin turning purple. She was panting, trying to draw breath but conscious enough to shoot him a glare of rage.

"You...are...killing...me..." she managed to speak.

"I'm sorry Valerie," Clark apologised, genuinely regretting the lengths necessary to make her listen. "I don't want to hurt you but you need to listen to me. I'm not your enemy. I'm your friend. I don't know what they've told you but your name is Valerie Beaudry. You were born on Earth and had parents who _loved_ you. You had friends who tried to help you. I'm sorry we couldn't stop them from taking you Valerie but you're home now. We can help you!"

"My...name...is...Swan!" She shook her head, protesting vehemently at the slightest possibility that anything was telling her could be the truth.

"No," Clark said firmly, refusing her sanctuary in that name. "That's what they called you to turn you into this...this thing you've become. You're not a killer Valerie, at least you weren't when you left Earth. You were good person, a brave person who sacrificed herself to save us all. You were our friend. Let me help you!"

She didn't want to listen to him anymore.

Not because she disbelieved him but because she _did_. Cracks were starting to appear in the carefully constructed identity Granny had built and beneath it, she could sense the presence of this person he spoke of, this Valerie. However, the enormity of it was too much and she pulled away from him suddenly enough to take him by surprise because the next second, she was plunging through the air, miles above the ground.

"Valerie!" Clark called out as he dove down to retrieve her. He knew the wings attached to her back enabled her to fly but he had no idea how they worked and whether or not they could function 30 miles up.

The Swan looked up when he called her name and knew that he was coming for her. Taking greedy gulps of air as she continued her sharp descent, she filled her lungs and screamed. The sonic blast was weaker than normal because she was out of breath but it had the desired effect of sending him tumbling backwards. The delay would give her a few more minutes to recover from the lack of oxygen.

It was a testament to Valerie's powers that even depleted, the force of her scream had sent him barrelling through the air like he'd been caught in a hurricane. Regaining control of his flight, Clark saw Valerie had continued to herself to fall until she was now at a comfortable breathing altitude. If he approached her head on, she would probably blast him to kingdom come. However, he had to make sure that she was recovered enough to be able to get to the ground by herself and he closed in on her nonetheless.

Of course, she saw him approached and this time she was prepared. Her wings unfurled and then extended to their full span across her back with a single powerful flap. Going on the offensive, the Swan dove deeper further into the troposphere. She knew he could catch up with her faster than she could register that she was caught so she had to think of something quickly.

Then she heard it.

The low rumble of engines. Searching for its source, it didn't take the Swan long to see what it was.

The Boeing 747 with the American Airlines logo emblazoned across its fuselage was continuing on its normal route without any suspicion at the calamity about to be visited upon it. Her eyes narrowed as she saw it flying directly beneath her. With a cruel smile curling the edge of her lips, she lowered herself on to its broad spine and looked over her shoulder, waiting for the Kryptonian to catch up.

It took but a second for Clark to realise what she was about to do and there was moment, when their met that he shook his head, imploring her wordlessly not to do what intended. However, the chance to have the upper hand was too much for her and she turned away, lowering her gaze to shiny metal fuselage before delivering her killing serve.

The blast of her sonic cry halted the craft's forward momentum instantly. The power of her cry slammed into the top of the plane as if a mountain had just been dropped on its back. The force of the sharp vertical descent snapped both wings as it dropped down, the heavy turbine engines falling away in to the sky, trailing insidious dark smoke. Then the plane started to fall, plunging from a height of thirty thousand feet.

_Jesus_, Clark managed the horrified thought as he witnessed the destruction. His auditory senses were immediately flooded with the deluge of terrified screams from the people inside, the abject terror of knowing they were all about to die. It was at that moment Clark came to the conclusion that Valerie was gone.

All that was left was the Swan and she had squandered the last of his goodwill.

Exploding forward in desperate burst of speed that created a sonic boom behind him, Clark flew towards the plane, ignoring Valerie for the immediate problem before him. Right now, his concern was the people on the plane he needed to save before the ground turned them into another tragic airline statistic.

The plane's ruined fuselage had started to spin as it fell; causing God only knew what injuries to its occupants as it continued to fall. Clark flew beneath it, searching for the optimum point to latch on. He had to do this just right or else the elongated body would snap and if that should happen, not even Superman would be fast enough to save them all.

Wind rushing at him, Clark reached the belly of the craft and had to stop its violent rolling by digging his hands into metal and holding on for dear life. He had used his strength to carry larger things in the past but nothing that required this much delicacy. The control required was difficult even for a Kryptonian and a loud, determined grunt escaped him as he forced the craft to stop spinning without tearing it apart. The metal superstructure heaved and protested but at his command, remained intact.

When the plane was finally steady in his hands, Clark dug his fingers deep into the steel, creating a secure handhold to maintain his grip. Once he was confident that his hold was secure, he began descending slowly to the ground. The plane had sustained severe damage and he wanted to ensure that it was not subjected to further stress that would cause it to break apart completely.

As he slowly made his way to the ground, Clark noted that he was still above the skies of Smallville which meant empty fields he could set the plane down without causing too much disruption to the locals. Scanning the terrain, he noted which field had been left to grow wild and which had been cultivated for crops. He also wanted to set it down relatively close to town because he didn't have to scan the inside of the cabin to know that people were seriously hurt in there. They needed to be in reach of medical help as soon as possible.

Selecting the abandoned farm belonging to Jed McNally, Clark brought the ruined 747 to its final resting place. He looked around and saw no sign of Valerie…_no the Swan_, he corrected himself and was grateful for that much at least. The last thing he needed to deal with when he was trying to save these people was avoiding her sonic screams. She'd receive a very different reception the next time their paths met. Clark was no fool, he'd gotten the message loud and clear.

Valerie had left the building, the Swan was in charge. He would not make that mistake again.

"Don't tell me the fool was trying to convince you that he was your long lost boyfriend?" Lashina snorted derisively when the Swan returned to them.

She had found the two women in Lex Luthor's office, tearing it apart for some piece of information regarding the whereabouts of the ship. With the corpses of Luthor's security team strewn about the room, the Swan concluded they had yet to find anything useful. It was time to call Grace, Swan thought although she would let Lashina make that determination herself. Lash so liked to think she was the brains of the operation.

Harriet was now tearing the leather sofa, with a rag doll tucked under her arm. Swan was certain that Harriet wasn't really motivated to find anything really. She just enjoyed the wanton destruction she was allowed to cause while _pretending_ to search.

"Something like that," the Swan said evasively, "but I manage to give him something else to worry about." Her lips curled into a satisfied smile remembering how he had gone scurrying after the plane when she'd knocked the craft out of the sky. "Did you find anything?" She asked.

"No," Lashina answered, disgusted by their lack of progress. "We'll have Grace track down Luthor once more. Maybe if we split his little girl apart like a ripe fruit, he might be a little more willing to talk."

"Perhaps," the Swan remarked, wincing when Harriet put a fist through the television set and then pouted at them like a naughty child, "but that stupid Kryptonian in his attempts to jog my memory might have gotten more than he bargained for."

"How so?" Lashina's brow arched as she stared at the Swan who was wearing an unreadable expression on her face. "Do you remember something?"

"Yes," she nodded recalling the fragment of memory that surfaced when she had been flying over the cornfield back to the mansion. "I think he lives here, in _this_ area." She looked about her as if she could see through walls like him. "In a yellow house with a porch and roses in the garden."

"Now that _is_ interesting," Lashina smiled. "I wonder how many of those there are around here?"


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT: SANCTUARY

After he'd set down the 747 down at the McNally Farm and left its occupants to the tender mercies of local authorities, Clark headed back to the Luthor Mansion. Despite his anger at what Valerie had done to the plane, Clark wasn't ready to write her off although he would be re-evaluating how he'd approach her. It was clear that Valerie couldn't be reasoned with but he was not the kid he'd been when they'd first met. These days, Superman had resources that Clark Kent didn't and he firmly believed that there was help to be found for Valerie.

Dr. Emil Hamilton who worked for Oliver Queen was an authority on the 'Meteor Generation' and then some. Emil often aided Clark and Oliver when they'd encountered something they couldn't understand and helped them to navigate the science of the threat involved to bring a bloodless end to many confrontations. Clark hoped that Emil would be able apply that formidable intellect to helping Valerie. However, first, he had to find her.

Arriving at the Luthor Mansion, a quick survey of the area told Clark that the trio was nowhere to be seen. With the technology at their disposal, they could be anywhere. However, he sensed they weren't gone. They wanted the ship and its occupant. Lex knew about one but not another and if he knew the billionaire at all, Lex would be spiriting Lana their child as far away from here as possible. Whatever else difference Clark had with Lex, even with the man's impaired memory, Clark did not underestimate Lex's love for Lana. He'd seen what the man was willing to do to win Lana's heart and knew with certainty that Lex would keep her and Laura safe.

Upon realising that there was nothing to be found at the Luthor Mansion, Clark returned to the farm, aware that he probably owed Lois an explanation for his abrupt departure.

Dawn had broken over the horizon when he flew back to the farm and found Lois sitting at the kitchen table, in her pyjamas watching the news, nursing a cup of coffee in her hands. After changing out of the suit into his everyday clothing, he head down the stairs, taking a moment to check on Kara and his mother. He found Martha asleep on Kara's bed, with the young girl lying against her breast fast asleep, clinging to his mother like he had as a child. Smiling to himself because he knew Kara was in good hands, Clark continued down the stairs to join Lois down stairs.

"...Flight 217...Lowell County, Kansas..." the television continued to drone when Clark reached the kitchen.

"Smallville!" Lois jumped to her feet and met him halfway with a hug. Logically, Lois knew there wasn't much that could hurt Clark but she still worried about him, especially when the news report indicated he'd been wrestling with a 747. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he smiled; enjoying her body pressed against his and took the opportunity to steal a tender kiss. "Not scratch, which is more than I can say for those poor people," he indicated the television set.

"What happened?" She asked tugging him by the hand to the table when she'd disengaged herself from his embrace.

Clark stiffened, remembering Valerie and said sedately to Lois, "Lois sit down."

His tone immediately put her on guard. "What is it?" She insisted.

Clark didn't answer immediately, getting himself a cup of coffee first before sitting down at the table. Lois sat across him and waited, her posture ramrod straight as if bracing herself for the terrible news he was about to inflict on her.

"I saw Valerie."

Lois knew immediately which Valerie.

It took a few seconds for it to sink in and then she blinked, letting a flood of images sweep over her like a tidal wave. Lois remembered the girl she had found in that diner on the edge of Metropolis six years ago. Frightened and on the run from the DeSaad Corporation who had been responsible for her formidable sonic cry, Lois had brought Valerie into their lives without realising the danger she posed to Clark. DeSaad, the corporate face of an alien power, had discovered Clark's secret and became determined to acquire a Kryptonian. Seeking to neutralise Clark for easier handling, DeSaad had stripped Clark of all his powers. Fortunately, it had only been a temporary loss but Lois had blamed herself for them ever getting that close to him.

With Bruce's help, they'd barely managed to escape the affair in one piece but despite their defeat of DeSaad, they'd failed to save Valerie. She'd been taken away into an alien dimension, beyond their reach. It was easy to forget that she'd ever existed. There had been so many things that had come and gone since those days. People had come and gone, lives that changed irrevocably and Valerie became one of those names that were forgotten with time.

"Where?"

"At the mansion," Clark explained, reading the flickers in Lois' eyes. Of all of them, it was Lois who had taken Valerie's loss the hardest. Lois had an even harder time with surrender than him. Clark was aware Lois harboured guilt at not only being unable to help Valerie but what had happened to him because of it. "She was there with two other women, aliens I'm sure. They were trying to get the location of Kara's ship."

"And Valerie?" Lois asked impatiently, "did she recognise you?"

"No," Clark shook his head, remembering the plane. "I doubt it. I tried to reach her but they were threatening Laura and Lana, I had to get them out of there."

"Oh god," her hand flew to her mouth, remembering Lana's little girl with her love of Pingu the Penguin, pink doughnuts and all things Barney. "Are they..."

"They're fine," Clark assured her, "I got to Smallville Medical but knowing Lex, he's probably got them heading out of town by now."

"Good," Lois said with relief. "What did they want with the ship?"

Clark didn't speak but his gaze shifted to the ceiling.

Lois caught on quickly. "Oh hell," she exclaimed. "We've got to get here out of here. She won't be safe."

"Valerie doesn't remember us," Clark said quickly but then he remembered Valerie's uncertainty. He couldn't be sure that he hadn't inadvertently unlocked any memories and if those memories came back, would they lead her here?

"Not just here Clark," Lois reminded. She might remember Bruce and Wayne Manor as well.

He'd intended to take Kara to the Fortress for a while but Lois reminder indicated that Bruce could be vulnerable too. While he had no doubt Batman could take care of himself but after last night's news, Bruce had a young boy under his care.

"I'll go see him," Clark said standing up, "tell my mom what's happening. I won't be long."

The morning had been a busy one for Bruce. All it had taken to have Dick's stay at the Manor extended was a call to the Mayor. The Wayne Foundation had granted a great many favours since his return to Gotham and this morning, Bruce had called in one of those markers. He didn't want Dick being shunted to any foster home _one_ day after his parents' death. The call to the Mayor had been followed by a call to a friendly judge and it was done. Dick had been placed in his temporary for the time being. And if the boy wanted it, Bruce would make the situation permanent.

What surprised Bruce most about this as he sat at the table in the large kitchen at the Manor, nursing his coffee was organic this all felt to him. At no point did Bruce have any halting thoughts as to the impact this would have on his current existence. There had only been one other time that he took such a personal leap of faith against his carefully constructed lifestyle; and that was when he had met Chloe. When he'd met her, he'd just returned to Gotham, the shape of the Bat had yet to become fully realised in his thoughts. She'd smiled her breezy warm smile, shining light into his darkened soul and he was lost. Even now, with Diana, nothing could compare to how she'd made him feel, how much hers he wanted to be.

The intensity of his concern for Dick achieved that level of epiphany and he knew he'd reached some kind of watershed moment. For the first time, the road ahead was unclear because he knew that even if Dick chose to remain indefinitely, he'd have to make adjustments to his current lifestyle. As it was, he hadn't been able to review the crime scene because leaving the manor last night would have been unconscionable.

The boy had slept through the night but Bruce had checked on him, cracking the door open wide enough to hear the soft, tearful whimpers into a tear stained pillow. It kept Bruce bound to the promise he had made to be there for Dick when he was needed

"He's still asleep Master Bruce," Alfred announced when he entered the kitchen, carrying the morning paper.

"Good," Bruce nodded, "he slept through but I doubt it was a restful sleep. Let him stay in bed for as long as he needs."

Alfred nodded and went about the business of making breakfast, not bothering to ask Bruce whether he wanted it or not because it was a foregone conclusion that he did.

"I've spoken to the Mayor," Bruce said tentatively, "Dick can stay here with us for a little while longer. There's no need to rush him to foster care."

"Very good Master Bruce," Alfred returned smoothly, "and should we be investigating the neighbourhood to see where the good schools are?"

Bruce gaze lifted to meet the older man's, "very droll, Alfred."

"You know he won't be able to stay at the Circus," Bruce pointed out, a hint of defensiveness creeping into his tone. "He's a minor without any family."

"As opposed to staying at a mansion with a playboy billionaire who isn't family either," Alfred remarked.

"He _needs_ us," Bruce retorted with defiance.

"I do not doubt that Master Bruce," Alfred broken two eggs into a mixing bowl, "but don't you think you should ask the boy what _he_ wants before you start knitting things?"

Bruce scowled at Alfred.

He supposed that he was getting ahead of himself. He was rarely impulsive and almost never led with his heart and yet Bruce recognised that his emotions were somewhat clouded in this instance. He could be singularly minded when he set his mind to a purpose and it was certainly the case where Dick Grayson was concerned. However, Bruce couldn't help himself. He saw the anguish in Dick's eyes that was so much like his own wounds that night. Bruce wanted to protect the boy, wanted to spare Dick the pain he knew coming. However, Alfred was right.

He had to let Dick decide for himself whether he wanted Bruce's help.

Letting his gaze stray towards the large double hung window that presented a picturesque view of the forested west of the estate, Bruce saw the leafy canopy shudder abruptly. Startled birds erupted from the trees, escaping into the sky with their wings flapping frantically as if something had suddenly appeared to give them cause to flee. Eyes narrowing, Bruce straightened up and waited.

It took less than ten seconds before the doorbell to the Manor's front doors was buzzing shrilly through the kitchen.

Like the birds, the ringing of the doorbell took Alfred by surprise. The manor had a security system in place equal to none that ensured that no one could simply waltz to the front door and ring the bell without warning. Bruce had installed the safeguards to ensure that no one could approach the gates without notice. The butler tore his attention away from the eggs he was preparing to stare at Bruce, puzzled by his lack of concern by this breach.

"Master Bruce?" Alfred finally asked.

"You better make an extra omelette," Bruce said knowingly, "We're having company."

Twenty minutes later, Clark and Bruce were shrouded in the dim light of the cave, enjoying the breakfast of omelettes which Alfred had insisted the new arrival partake. They'd move down to the cave because Bruce suspected that Clark's visit was not social and with Dick in the house, any conversation related to their activities as Superman and Batman needed to be handled discreetly.

"And you're sure its Valerie?" Bruce asked once Clark had updated him on what was happening in Smallville. Clark left nothing out, from the appearance of the Kryptonian ship and the young girl in it, to the attack at the Luthor Mansion and finally the revelation that Valerie Beaudry had come home.

"It's _her_," Clark said firmly, his jaw taut with certainty, "Right down to the sonic cry. Except now, it's stronger and more disciplined. She's had training."

"She was under their influence for six years," Bruce remarked frowning because even after all this time, who 'they' were, was still a mystery. "Michael Canto did say she was being taken somewhere she would be appreciated. I guess we now know how."

"She's a weapon who doesn't remember who she is," Clark declared, still stunned that she had been willing to bring down a plane to avoid him rekindling those memories. "And she's terrified of finding out. She was willing to kill all those people just to get away from me."

"We have no idea what kind of conditioning she was subjected to," Bruce reminded not about to condemn Valerie though he filed away her actions for consideration later. He remembered what he'd seen at DeSaad's laboratories years ago, the mutated bodies encased in tanks for Michael Canto's master to have his answer to the Anti-Life Equation. "She might not be able to help her response."

"I know," Clark admitted that begrudgingly, "but now I'm afraid that if I have awakened _some_ of her memories and not all of them, she could remember the farm in Smallville and this place," he swept a quick glance at the cave and the manor above it. "Bruce you could be vulnerable."

"I'll keep that in mind," Bruce said unconcerned at present, "it's the girl you need to worry about. You know what Canto wanted. If they can't use you, they will try to get to her."

"I know," Clark nodded having come to the same conclusion earlier, "I thought I'd warn you and then get back to Smallville. We'll keep her at the fortress for a while. I don't think she's in any state to deal with the big city at the moment."

"Clark, is that the best place for her right now?" Bruce asked. Dick's situation had parallels with Clark's cousin Kara. Both had lost their families in an instant and were dealing with the shock of that.

"I don't have a choice," Clark sighed, unhappy about the idea himself. "Her powers are still manifesting. She could do a lot of damage if she doesn't get it under control. I need the freedom and the privacy to show her how."

Bruce considered the situation and found that turning his intellect to Clark's problem allowed him to take his mind off Dick and what came next with the boy. He understood Clark's frustration. His best friend wanted to help Kara's transition to life on Earth by giving her some stability around people who would care and support her. Unfortunately the knowledge of the ship's existence and arrival of Valerie with her alien companions meant Kara was in real danger of discovery. She needed to be somewhere safe so he and Clark could deal with this situation. It had to be somewhere completely unassailable, isolated and yet not cold like the fortress or dank like the cave. Somewhere she could restore her wounded spirit…

"Themiscyra," it rolled off the tip of his tongue before he had even completed the thought. "You send her to Themiscyra."

Clark was in mid swallow when Bruce spoke and he stopped short, taken back by the suggestion.  
His first instinct was to say no but then he thought about it seriously.

The Amazons had managed to stay hidden from the Patriarch's World for three thousand years. It was safe to say they could conceal Kara for a few weeks until the danger had passed. His concern, however, was about leaving her alone with strangers so soon after arriving on Earth. Other than Martha and Lois, Kara knew no one else. Then it occurred to him that Martha could probably go with her and wondered if Diana would feel about that. His instincts told him that Diana would not have issue with it but still it was an imposition.

"I couldn't ask Diana to do that," Clark replied even if his refusal was somewhat half-hearted and Bruce would probably spot it. "Besides she's not even in the country is she?"

"I'll ask her," Bruce said. "She's given me a way to contact her."

"Well I guess you would," Clark said after a moment. "Being your girlfriend, I guess she would give you her phone number." He couldn't help but tease Bruce a little, aware of how uncomfortable the man was about admitting he was in a relationship.

"Very funny," the Batman said making a face at him. "Do want my help?" Bruce grumbled.

"Okay, okay," Clark chuckled and then sobered up when he recalled Kara wasn't the only one in danger here. "How is the boy, Dick?" Clark had seen the news and understood immediately why Bruce had stepped in to help young Dick Grayson.

"Yes," Bruce nodded and then added quietly, "Broken, just broken."

"You've done a good thing Bruce," Clark offered kindly, "you can help him."

_And maybe_, Clark thought silently, _he can help you too_.

The prospect of spending a few weeks away at an isolated Amazonian island while intriguing, did not immediately appeal to Martha Kent. She'd just gotten back to the farm after years away and was looking forward to spending some time here before being spirited away to parts unknown. Of course, she understood the situation. The appearance of an old enemy who could find their way to the farm and put Kara in danger was nothing to take lightly so she understood they had to leave until Clark resolved the situation. Still, she wished it were otherwise.

Martha had slept in which was unusual for her since she was accustomed to getting up early after spending years as a farmer's wife. Even the time in Washington had not altered this habit. However, last night was not the norm. She'd spent of the night holding Kara, letting the girl cling to her like a child, crying herself to sleep. Martha had drifted off herself, stroking Kara's hair, trying to soothe the troubles out of Kara's anxious psyche.

_The poor thing had good reason to fear_, Martha thought. The girl had so many obstacles ahead of her; a new life on an alien planet, powers that had only just begun to awakened and of course, the prospect of living a double life the same as Clark. All this coupled with the still raw loss of her family and her people, it was no wonder Kara was still so fragile. Martha wanted to protect her from all that and keep her safe.

Packing a small bag, Lois had told her that packing for Themiscyra was like taking a trip to the tropics. Lois was one of the few reporters who were allowed to go to the island when the Amazons first revealed themselves to the world and she assured Martha that it was the safest place Kara could be. While Martha had never met Diana or 'Wonder Woman' as the press had labelled the Princess, she knew that Clark trusted her implicitly and so Martha did as well.

Kara was still asleep and Martha knew she'd have to wake the girl up soon. Martha wanted her to sleep as much as possible. She knew she had grown attached to the child but she couldn't help it, Martha had always wanted a house full of children. While Fate had denied her that, she saw no reason to complain. Clark was her son in every way that mattered and it had taken all of hers and Jonathan's energy to raise him. Perhaps it was even for the best that he was an only child. Still, Martha had still sometimes fantasied about having a daughter, a girl with Jonathan's blond hair and even though he wasn't hers biologically, Clark's blue eyes.

Fate had a very odd sense of humour as it appeared she might have been granted that very same wish.

"Mrs Kent," Lois tapped lightly on the doorframe to her bedroom before peering in, "do you want me to wake Kara?" Lois asked.

"You better let me," Martha answered, finding it amusing that even now, Lois called her Mrs Kent. "She'll need some more clothes. Did Clark say when he'd be coming to get us?" Martha asked, wondering if there was time to go into town and do some shopping.

"I'm not sure," Lois replied, "he said Bruce was getting in touch with Diana and that it could take a little time. Still, I think you'd have time if you want to run to town and get her some things…like underwear and stuff. The Amazons are big on togas but not that much on lingerie." Lois said making a face.

"I think I might do that," Martha laughed, "you don't mind babysitting for a bit?"

"Sure, I'll put on MTV and get her started on being a _real_ American teenager." The reporter said with her usual flippancy.

"Oh God no," Martha exclaimed, an expression of mock horror on her face as Lois joined her laughter.

However, the moment was cut short by the sudden shattering of glass downstairs.

"What the hell?" Lois exchanged a quick glance with Martha before she was hurrying down the hall.

Lois had no sooner made it half way down the stairs when she saw the front door swung wide open, the fragments on the floor revealed how intruders had smashed through a glass pane to gain entry. Slowing her pace, she rounded the corner to stop short at sight of a woman standing in the middle of the living room, surveying the place. Lois didn't need Clark's description to know who it was. She knew right of way who she was looking at.

"Valerie!" Lois exclaimed and the Swan turned to her sharply.

Despite the danger that Clark had warned her off, Lois' first impulse upon seeing Valerie was to throw her arms around the woman and hug her. "Valerie, it's so good to see you."

"ENOUGH!" This loud bark came from behind her and suddenly Lois heard the cracking sound of a whip, coiling around her neck and yanking her backwards sharply, away from Valerie.

The Swan shook off her discomfiture at the warm greeting given to her by this stranger who seemed genuinely happy to see her. In fact the only emotion that she was comfortable with right now, was the knowledge that she had led them to the right place. With Grace's help, they'd been able to use their technology to conduct a rapid search of the area, in particular the dwellings. When the Swan saw the yellow farmhouse and the landscape surrounding it, she knew immediately that this was where the Kryptonian lived.

Determined that there would be no further lapses from the Swan, Lashina acted quickly, pulling back the whip and hurling the female towards a sideboard. Her impact against it was hard and she brought down all the shelves and its contents upon her when she landed against the floor. Objects shattered and shelves clattered over her body. Mad Harriet wasted no time, jumping on her in her disorientated state.

Lois saw stars and looked up to see feral looking woman astride her, her hands brandishing sharp blades along every finger, preparing to strike. She could feel the sticky warmth of blood running down her temple.

"Mad Harriet says you don't talk to the Swan," the woman warned with a vicious sneer on her face.

Forcing away her disorientation by several hasty blinks, Lois' hand sought for a weapon while she responded to her attacker. "Does Freddy Krueger know Mad Harriet stole his look?" Lois hissed before smashing a carved book end into the side of Harriet's face and then twisted sharply to throw the woman off her.

Rolling onto her feet, Lois prepared for a fight and heard another snap of the whip. This time, it hit her across the arm and she uttered a cry of pain, feeling flesh tear. Blood soiled the sleeve of her shirt as Lashina tore open the fleshy part of her upper arm.

"While I always enjoy seeing Harriet get beaten by the locals, I'm afraid I can't indulge you," Lashina retorted, drawing her arm back to strike Lois again when suddenly she was thrown forward by the powerful blast of a shotgun.

Lashina hit the floor, face first in front of Lois' feet, her back smoking as Martha stood behind her, gun in hand. While her body armour had protected Lashina from the worst of the blast, the impact from the double barrelled weapon was still formidable enough to drive the female Fury to her knees.

"Lois, are you alright?" Martha asked, lowering the weapon as she saw the blood on Lois' arm.

However, no sooner than she had asked the question, Mad Harriet, recovered from Lois' attack, launched herself at Martha. She slammed into Martha, forcing the gun to fall away from her hand and gave her no quarter she struck hard and fast, her sharp blades slashing across Martha's chest. Blood splattered across the floor as Lois gaped in horror as grievous wounds were inflicted on Martha.

"MARTHA!" Lois nearly screamed and scrambled forward only to be halted abruptly when Lashina sprang to her feet. The warrior threw a powerful forward kick at the approaching human that landed square in the middle of Lois' stomach, throwing her back again.

"SWAN!" Lashina ordered, "Check the house! See who else is here!"

The Swan nodded, once again finding herself at a disadvantage because the inside of the house was also opening up doors within her mind. The images were coming faster now, almost everything seemed familiar and yet the emotional connection to the person named Valerie was elusive. Leaving the Lashina and Mad Harriet to deal with the two women in the living room, the Swan ignored the one called Lois and started towards the stairs when she heard the footsteps of someone running down it instead.

"What's happening?" Kara demanded as she came down to investigate the commotion.

"Now who is this?" Lashina asked looking at the girl and saw the woman beneath Harriet display nothing less than panic. "Do you recognise her Swan?"

"No," the Swan shook her head. The place and even the woman who hugged her was familiar but not this child. This girl was a stranger to her in every sense of the word.

Martha could feel her flesh stinging with agony and the smell of her own blood made her want to gag but nothing terrified her more than the idea of these monsters getting their hands on Kara.

"KARA RUN!" Martha managed to scream and prompted Mad Harriet into slashing at her again. More blood splattered across Mad Harriet's armour.

"NO! MRS KENT!" Kara screamed in horror and ran towards Martha instead of fleeing as ordered. "PLEASE DON'T HURT HER!" Kara cried pushing past the Swan and skidding to the floor next to Martha, squealing further upon seeing the crisscrossed wounds across the older woman's torso.

The fury inside Kara was beyond description. All she could think of was that Martha was kind to her, had made the awful noise go away by telling her she was family, that's she'd never be alone. Martha who held her last night like Alura had held her when she was scared. Seeing Martha hurt like this brought up a rage in Kara that she had known before. She turn her enraged glare at the person who had done this to Martha and knew only that she wanted them to pay.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Kara bellowed and then her fury became something no one expected.

Lois was struggling to get up when she saw Kara's heat vision manifest itself for the first time. Two beams of crimson energy poured out of the girl's eyes and struck Mad Harriet in the sternum, flinging her off Martha's like she was fly. Harriet uttered a screeching cry as she hit the polished floorboards, the front of her armour burning. Harriet continued to scream as she rolled on the floor, frantically trying to beat out off the flames.

With a flash of realisation, Lashina exclaimed with excitement and triumph, "The girl's Kryptonian! Darkseid will want her!"

"No!" Lois jumped on Lashina's back, knowing what this revelation meant. Taking advantage of Lashina's distraction at the prospect of taking Kara as her prize, she wrapped her arms around Lashina's head in an arm lock and shouted at Kara, "RUN KARA! RUN!"

Kara was screaming too because she knew something was coming out of her eyes but had no idea how to stop it. The beams of energy were cutting through everything in sight, burning a trail across the walls. "What's happening?" She screamed out hysterically. "I can't stop it!"

"I'll stop it child," the Swan retorted, producing the seldom used laser weapon from her belt and firing it at the terrified girl. It struck Kara at point blank rage with enough power to stun the girl. The Kryptonian teenager spasmed violently, the shock of the energy blast disrupting her heat vision. She was still shaking, spidery webs of energy moving across her body when the Swan moved in to claim her.

"No!" Martha cried out in anguish despite her pain. "Don't do this, she's just a baby!"

"Everyone was a baby," the Swan said coldly, "and then we grow up."

"Not today," a new voice spoke and the Swan felt a hand clamping hard over her shoulder.

She was spun around just in time for a fist to connect with her jaw. The power of it lifted the Swan off her feet, sending her through the air, then the wall and out of the Kent house.

"Another one to join the party!" Mad Harriet declared in that insane voice of hers and sprung towards the new arrival, having extinguished the flames to her armour. She did not have the chance to make contact as she was swatted out of the house through a window, with one powerful backhanded blow. Harriet flew past Martha's rose bushes and crashed out of sight in the distance.

"Diana!" Lois exclaimed, letting go of Lashina to run to Martha and Kara's side. "Thank God you're here."

Diana did not speak, offering Lois a nod of acknowledgement because she was still in her mind, engaged in battle. Her jaw tightened at the harm brought to Kal's mother and she cursed that she had not have arrived sooner. When Bruce had contacted her at Themiscyra, Diana had used the Sandals of Hermes to make the crossing into the Patriarch's World understanding that the matter was urgent. Upon arriving here and discovering what was unfolding, she realised that she had come just in time to prevent further disaster.

Glaring at the remaining adversary, Diana spoke through clench teeth, "You will answer for what you have done here." Diana strode towards Lashina, ready for combat.

Lashina knew this was the time to make a strategic withdrawal.

She did not know who this new arrival was but she was convinced that if this warrior was an ally of the Kryptonian and she was here, then he would not be far behind. Lashina was unashamed to admit she stood no chance against either of them. Activating the teleportation device on her belt, she returned Diana's icy stare with a look of defiance.

"This is not over, the girl _will_ belong to Darkseid."

And with that, she vanished.


End file.
